Rules of Suite Life Ladies
by RoseWoodsPrettiestLiar
Summary: Addison, Bailey, London and Maya enter their Senior Year at Seven Seas High and get ready for the roller-coaster it will be. They encounter many teenage-problems during their last year and write down the Rules with which they deal with them during their Senior Year. With appearances of Zack, Cody, Woody, Mr Moseby, Marcus, Ms Tutweiler and many others!
1. Rule No 1: Play Hard To Get

**Rules of Suite Life Ladies**

Note from the author: Hey all! Welcome to my newest Suite Life On Deck-story! It's been a while since I've written one of these and I'm very happy to have been inspired to write another one! I really hope you'll like it and that you'll review. Enjoy! –RPL

Disclaimer: Months have passed and I still don't own the rights to the Suite Life On Deck! Disney does!

In this story: The main characters include: Cody Martin, Zack Martin, Bailey Pickett, London Tipton, Maya Bennett, Marcus Little, Woody Fink, Addison, Mr. Moseby and Ms. Tutweiller. The story will probably be a little AU, but you will recognize several scenes from the series. This story centers around the "Rules of Ladies" (which I found on Tumblr) and shows how the female characters come across them and try to live by them. Also, the rules might make the progress of the series a bit shaky, seeing as the rules apply to moments throughout the series which may not be in the chronological order. Also, I might not always use a moments out of an episode for a rule. I'll probably have to create my own TSLOD-moments.

Anyway, I hope you'll all like the story! If you do, I have the "Rules of Gentlemen" ready to be turned into a story! Xoxo

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

**The No. 1 rule of a lady: Play hard to get**

MAYA POV:

"_Maya, if you're not busy tomorrow,…_" Zack said.

"_No way,_" I replied. "_I'm not emptying out London's jacket-Jet._"

Zack rolled his eyes. "_I was thinking more along the lines of a date… Since you know, eh, you like me._" He chuckled in his typical Zack-manner of chuckling.

I lifted my eyebrows at him, not surprised in the least that he would use that particular part of our undersea-adventure against me. Seeing that he was so predictable, I could barely keep the smirk of my face.

"_Oh, please,_" I said. "_That was just the lack of oxygen talking…_"

"_Oh come on,_" he didn't even try to keep his smirk of his face. "_You know it's true. So, where were we?_" He spread his arms out and walked towards me.

I shook my head teasingly. "_Mmmm, not there… Yet…_" I walked past him.

"_How about now?_" He turned around to follow me. "_No!"_

"_Now?_" "_No!_"

"_Now?_" "_No!_"

"_Now?_" "_No!_"

"_Cracken!_" "_Cracken!_"

I swear, that chuckle was more like a giggle. I sighed.

"_You're so annoying._" I said getting in his face. I couldn't help it; those green-blueish eyes had a way of luring me in. Of course, his big mouth had to ruin the almost-moment. I shook myself out of it.

"_Funny,_" he said, shrugging his shoulders. "_My mom says the same thing!_"

Realizing I was fighting a battle I'd clearly had no chance of winning or maybe had already lost, I turned around and left the Sky Deck.

I could feel him staring at my back.

* * *

As I was mounting the stairs to the Fiesta Deck, I couldn't help but look over the railing at Zack. He was still standing at the smoothie bar and was talking to a pretty brunette. I could feel a pang of jealousy in my chest and for what felt like the hundredth time that night, I sighed. The feeling of jealousy was not so uncommon since I had realized I was falling for resident Master of pranking Zack Martin.

Not really seeing where I was going, I tripped over a white fur ball of some sorts. Ivana… Realizing London couldn't be far off and feeling like I could use some company, I dropped my ass in the with rubies encrusted reclining chair.

"Why do boys have to be so damn hard to understand, Ivana?" I asked the petite dog as I stroked her little head. I swear she looked at me as if to say "Been there, my friend".

"Zack-problems, my dear?" I heard someone ask behind me. I turned around in my seat.

London and Addison. Two of my very best friends.

"That obvious, huh?" I asked them. Both gave me a sympathetic nod.

"I don't get it," London said confused. "Zack told you he liked you as more than a friend, and clearly you like him as more than a friend too, and yet you're here talking to Ivana about how boys are such idiots."

I pointed over the railing and London and Addison went to take a look. "Oh!" I heard them say in an understanding tone.

"I can see him flirting with that girl," Addison said. "And I can also see that it's hurting you but why don't you just go down there and tell him you like him?"

"Yeah, Maya. Wouldn't that be the way to solve your problem?" London asked.

"It's just… What if I tell him and we start going out and then he doesn't like me anymore after two weeks? What if he just likes me because I'm the one girl he wants but can't get?"

"You make a good point…" London started. "But I don't think that's why Zack likes you. Because you don't throw yourself at him like the other girls do. I mean, I've known the guy since he was eleven years old and I've never seen him act like he does around you around any other girl."

"You know what I think?" Addison suddenly asked. "We should take this discussion down to your cabin, London, and talk to Bailey about it. She's very smart, maybe she knows the solution to your problem, Maya."

"I don't think so," I said hesitantly. "Isn't she still very torn up over her breakup with Cody?"

London nodded with a deep frown on her forehead. "Don't remind me! Ever since they broke up, she's been weeping all night long in her sleep. It's so bad I've had to buy earplugs!"

"I don't want to bother her with my relationship-problems…" I said.

"That's a load of bull, Maya! Bailey's your friend, she'll be glad to help." Addison dragged me and London out of the chair and scooped up Ivana. She pushed her into London's arms and lead us down the stairs.

"Let's get moving, ladies!" She yelled. "For we shall seek for Bailey's wisdom and advise in the matters of the heart!" And she ran down the stairs at lightning speed.

I looked at London and she shrugged her shoulders.

"I have no idea why she's talking so weirdly, but what she said couldn't hurt, you know," She said. "It might help Bailey get over Cody and help you get over whatever issues you're having with dating Zack." She followed Addison down the stairs in a somewhat more graceful manner.

"_It might help you get over whatever issues you're having with dating Zack…_" I repeated London's last sentence over and over and throwing a last look over the banister, I decided they were right.

Bailey was most likely the one person that could help me. She might even help me get Zack and keep him.

I followed London and Addison towards Bailey's cabin.

* * *

I had quickly caught up with London and Addison and together we knocked gently on Bailey's cabin door.

She opened the door in her pajamas and with her hair gathered in a messy ponytail. She had a pen in her hand and a pencil behind her ear. Clearly she had been doing homework.

"Hi guys!" She smiled as she opened the door wider. "Come on in!"

"What's up?" Bailey asked as we made ourselves comfortable on hers and London's beds.

"We need your smartness!" London chirped up.

"Yeah, because Zack told Maya he likes her as more than a friend and Maya likes him too, as more than a friend, but then she saw him talking to a pretty brunette and now she thinks he only likes her because she's the one girl he wants but can't get and you need to fix it!" Clearly Addison had found the bowl of candy on the bedside table between the two beds.

"Could you maybe translate that for me?" Bailey looked confused. I took a deep breath and started the story.

* * *

"Oh my!" Bailey said as I finished my story. "I'm so happy for you! And for Zack! He'll be jumping for joy when you tell him!"

"Argh!" I yelled. "That's the problem, Bailey! I can't tell him, because then he won't be interested anymore! I need to keep playing hard to get or I'll be just another one to add to his list of conquests!"

"That's it!" London, who had been awfully quiet during my story, said abruptly. "A list!"

"Huh?" The three of us said together. "What are you talking about, London?" Bailey asked.

"Think about it! This will be the first teenage-problem we'll come across on our last year here at Seven Seas High! We need to make a list of all the rules we think apply to our problems! We write our rules down and when we have teenage daughters running around we give them the book!"

"London…" Bailey started. I could see the gears turning inside her head. "That's…"

"Brilliant!" Addison said. "I've always wanted a little girl! And with our book and our stories to go along with it, they will have a guide during their high school years!"

"And we already have our first rule! And the story to go along with it!" London did her typical Yay-me dance routine. Bailey lifted an eyebrow in question.

"Play hard to get," I whispered. "The No. 1 rule of a Suite Life Lady: Play hard to get. That could be the title of our book: The Rules of Suite Life Ladies."

Suddenly Bailey jumped up and started going through her drawers. "It's got to be here somewhere!" she grumbled. "Aha!"

She turned towards us and held out a beautiful notebook. "Ladies, our book of rules!"

She grabbed a marker from her pencil case. She wrote down "Addison, Bailey, London and Maya present: The Rules of Suite Life Ladies!"

I took over the book and grabbed a pen.

"The No. 1 rule of a Suite Life Lady: Play hard to get." London grabbed the book.

"Date: 1st of October, 2010, start of our Senior Year. Place: Port of New York City. Story: Maya falling in love with bad boy Zachary Martin." She slammed the book shut and grabbed a sheet of fake gemstone-stickers from her bedside table. Addison caught up with London's idea and scooted a little closer to the heiress.

Addison and London started decorating the cover of the notebook as Bailey and I watched them.

"The first Rule…" Bailey said with a touch of emotion.

"The first Rule of a Suite Life Lady…" I said and we joined our girlfriends on London's bed.

* * *

Note from the author: There you have it, my dear readers! The first chapter of the Rules of Suite Life Ladies! For those who haven't figured out the episode I quoted in the beginning of the chapter: it was a Zaya-moment we saw in "Das Boots" (S03E05). I really hope you enjoyed it and stay tuned for the second chapter! Xoxo - RPL


	2. Rule No 2: Be The Woman A Man Needs

**Rules of Suite Life Ladies**

Note from the author: Hey all! Here is chapter 2! It's a bit longer than the first chapter since I wrote down the gang's whole week of adventures! I hope you're enjoying the story and don't be shy about leaving a review! At the end I'll leave the next Rule and maybe you can send me your idea for the third chapter? I'd love to work with your ideas! –RPL

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to The Suite Life On Deck

In the last chapter: The girls wrote down their first Rule.

In this chapter: Cody and Bailey have just broken up. Therefore London attempts to console Bailey and seeks the advice of Ms. Tutweiler. We follow the girls through the first week after Bailey and Cody's breakup.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**The No. 2 of a Suite Life Lady: **

**Be the woman a man needs, not the woman that needs a man**

Bailey POV:

_Sunday:_

After the mani-pedi's London treated me to I did feel a little better. Though the heartache of the breakup with Cody was still there.

"So?" The door to our cabin opened and Addison came in. "How are you feeling, Bailey? Because London told me about your little run-in with Ms T.'s expertise on failed relationships and she also told me it didn't end well and since you're my best friend I wanted to make sure you were all right and if you want, I could punch Cody in the face, you know?! I mean, you were there when I beat Woody at arm wrestling and so was he so I doubt I'm incapable of hurting him and…"

I smiled at Addison's rambling. "Addison! It's okay." I said. "No need to go Cody punching in the face."

"You sure?" she asked. I could see her eyeing the candy-bowl as she spoke to me and I quickly locked the bowl in London's closet.

"Yeah, I am." I nodded. "I realized today that the only thing I need right now is to spend some time with my friends and not think about Cody."

"I think that's a great idea," a voice behind us said. "Why don't we start tonight? They're playing the whole Twilight-series tonight on the Fiesta Deck. And since the boys claim to hate those romantic movies, there should be no risk of running into them."

"Great idea, Maya." Addison smiled at them. "What do you think, Bailey?"

"I'd really like that, girls. There's just one problem: Cody does like those romantic movies. Especially when he's sad. So there might be a risk of running into him there. And I can't handle that just yet. The wound of the breakup is still too fresh."

"I'll take care of that," London, who had just come out of the bathroom, said. "I'll be right back." With the towel still wrapped around her head and in a fluffy, pink bathrobe she set off for God knows where.

"Get in the shower, Bailey," Maya smiled at me. "And put on something pretty. We'll see you and London in an hour for dinner, ok?"

"I'll be there. Where are you two off to, then?" I couldn't help but ask.

"I'm going to meet Woody. We're going to play 'Better Life'." She giggled and set off for her almost but not quite yet-boyfriend. I shook my head smiling and turned towards Maya.

"I have a shift at the juice-bar. Feel free to come by. I'll make sure he-who-must-not-be-named is not around. See you later, Bails." She winked at me and closed the door behind her.

"Bye, Maya!" I said and I grabbed my toiletries and headed for a long, hot shower planning on washing all the memories I had of my ex-boyfriend away.

* * *

_Monday:_

"Okay, class." Ms Tutweiller said. "Settle down. Is everyone present?"

"Zack's not here, Ms Tutweiller." Woody said lifting his hand. I couldn't help but notice there were two empty seats. One next to Woody and directly behind Maya and the one next to mine.

_Cody…_

"I'm here, I'm here…" we suddenly heard someone yelling from the corridor. Zack entered the classroom dragging what appeared to be a boneless Cody behind him.

"Is he still alive?" Marcus asked. He was seated behind London and I was surprised to see he had been able to tear his eyes away from her.

"He is, but he's being particularly obstinate this morning…" Zack was grinding his teeth as he dragged Cody inside the classroom.

"Wow! 'Obstinate'… Big word you used there, Zack! Did you do your homework for English yesterday?" Maya remarked snidely.

_Wow… What's gotten into her? Something must've happened… No way she's still that pissed off at Zack for talking to that brunette last week…_

Zack, who obviously hadn't picked up on Maya's sour mood, winked at her and blew her a kiss. She stuck out her tongue.

"Shut up, Maya!" Marcus said. "Why's he being so heady, Zack?"

"Ask our little farm girl. She broke his heart last weekend. In Paris no less… Therefore he won't eat, won't shower and has been crying for the past 2 days!"

"Well I'm sorry if he didn't stop me from declaring our relationship over! I'm sorry if he implied that he considered our relationship already over! That he got so jealous over a guy painting my present for him for our anniversary!"

"Back off, Zack! This is not Bailey's fault. Leave her alone!" Maya snapped. "It's not just your brother who's suffering here!" Clearly Maya had seen the tears making their way up and threatening to spill over.

"ENOUGH!" Miss Tutweiller yelled. "Detention! Both of you! Zack, Maya, I expect both of you here at 4 PM sharp! I shall notify Mr. Moseby and you'll be doing your shifts some other time!

"Now, Zack," Ms Tutweiller took a deep breath and seemed to have calmed down a bit. "Put your brother in his seat, take yours and everyone: grab a pencil. I hope you're prepared for a pop-quiz!"

My breath caught in my throat and I shook a little with fear as I got my paper.

"Don't worry, Bailey." Ms Tutweiller said. "If you were to screw this test up, I'll gladly give you another shot. I completely understand if you're still a bit shaken up from the past weekend and this little… whatever it was." She winked at me and I smiled at her in gratefulness.

"Thanks." I whispered. "Don't mention it!" and she handed London her test.

I stared at the sheet of paper in front of me and exhaled as we were merely asked to name 20 different countries in Europe and name their capitals. This I could do.

When I got the test back, the big red A+ made me feel a little better.

* * *

_Tuesday, 9:30 a.m.:_

Today was definitely not a good day. Cody and I talked for the first time since we were broken up and let's just say: things had gotten quite ugly.

It all started when I was cleaning out my room. I was surprised to see how many things of Cody had actually ended up in my room. All his different calculators, several of his pencils and pens, some of his geometry-books, I even found 2 sweaters and a shirt. I sure as hell could not remember how they ended up in my room.

I had put everything of Cody's belongings in a box and while doing so, I realized that my relationship was really over. The tears tried to make their way up, but I bravely swallowed them down. I would not cry over Cody Martin any more.

When I knocked on his door I swear his mouth was only seconds away from dropping open in shock.

"Hey Cody." I could do this. I had practiced what I was going to say enough times in front of the mirror and my friends. "I was on my way to the Sky Deck and I thought now to be as good as any other time to drop off your stuff. Here are your calculators. Have fun with them!"

As I turned to continue my way upwards to the Sky Deck, Cody called my name.

I tried not to sound too hopeful as I turned around to face him. "Yes?" I asked.

"I've got a box of your stuff too. Here you go." He pushed the box in my hands and waved. "Seeing as we're broken up, I have no need for it. In there you'll find your books, both for school and for relaxation, your acupuncture-set, the massage-oil, and everything else you left here in the past year. Now if you'll excuse me, I was revising for the Chemistry test later today." Cody had ushered me out of his room and grabbed the door preparing to slam it closed in my face.

"Is… Is that everything?" I asked him. I was shocked that there was not even the slightest hint of emotion in those blue-greenish eyes I had fallen in love with.

"Yeah, I think so." He said. "If I find anything, I'll make sure it finds its way back to you. Bye!" and this time he did slam the door closed.

I was so shocked I ran up to the Sky Deck, my box of belongings still in my hands.

* * *

_Tuesday, 10:15 a.m.:_

After the whole belongings-exchange, things had only gotten worse.

For instance, when I had gotten to the Sky Deck I had tripped over this kid that was playing with his toy-cars and I had sent my stuff haywire. I felt like crying when I saw all of my notes falling through the skies. Most of it landed in the hot tub.

_Of course…_ I thought. _Could this day get any worse?_

I probably shouldn't have thought that because the next thing I noticed was a bra. A blood-red lace bra. In the middle of the Sky Deck. Amidst several others of my properties that had spilled out of my box.

You guessed it: that was my blood-red lace bra. And it was picked up and brought to me by none other than the kid over whose cars I had tripped.

"You dropped your slingshot, miss." The kid said, handing me my bra. Most of the people standing around me were smothering a laugh as some of them stooped and picked up some of my stuff.

"Bailey!" I heard a voice yell. Maya came running over. "Are you okay?"

I shook my head. "No. But… I just… I'm sorry Maya…"

"What? Why?" she asked bewildered.

"For being one of those friends you are more than mildly embarrassed to call your friend."

"Oh, Bailey." She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and stroked my hair. "You're not one of those friends! I could never be embarrassed about you! Come on, Bails. Get up. I'll get you a smoothie."

Addison and London came running over. "Clean up this mess would you?" Maya asked them. "These are Bailey's things. Bring them to your cabin, okay?" London nodded and she and Addison started gathering all of Bailey's stuff.

"Thanks, Maya." I said hiccupping. "But I have to go. I'm going to make a quick stop in the ladies' room and then I have to get to Biology. I'm getting Buck back. Though I imagine London won't be too happy about having a rat running around in our cabin."

I managed a weak grin and left my friend where she was, probably worried sick.

* * *

_Tuesday, 2 p.m.:_

When I got to the Biology classroom I saw Cody already standing next to Buck's cage. I sighed not really looking forward to my second encounter with my ex-boyfriend today. I decided to just grab Buck and then go hide in London's closet.

"Hi, buddy." I said talking to the rat. "Come to momma, would you? We're going home." I giggled at the rat who came out of its nest and I opened the cage.

Obviously Cody had had the same idea of taking Buck with him. Things quickly escalated and our shouting-match caused Woody to alert Kirby.

His interference made things even less uncomfortable what with Cody butting into my evaluation time. I swear, at times like those, it's hard to remember why I started dated him in the first place.

At the end of the day, we were able to come to a mutual agreement and we decided to try and be friends.

_Yeah, _the annoying voice in my head whispered. _Good luck being friends with your ex-boyfriend. I bet getting Moseby to adopt Zack is easier…_

I sighed once more.

* * *

_Wednesday, 10:30 a.m.:_

A bad storm had caused a power-outage on the lower decks and had yet to be fixed. Therefore, all students of Seven Seas High were free of educational duties today.

"We don't have school today! We don't have school today!" London was singing, very off-key might I add, under the shower. "And I get my allowance today! That's why I'm going shopping! It's little me, off to Paris!"

"London!" I yelled, trying to get her to stop singing. "You do know we have school tomorrow right! And you do know that even with the Tipton helicopter, you won't be able to fly off to Paris, buy yourself a whole new wardrobe and be on time for school tomorrow, right? I guess there will be no Paris for little you!"

I could hear her famous shriek of terror and giggled at her panic. In her moment of fashion-meltdown I ran into our shared bathroom and quickly brushed my hair and teeth. "It's not nice to steal one's bathroom, Bailey! Don't they teach you that at farm girl-school?"

I had by now stepped under the shower and let out a little yell at the temperature of the water. "Don't they teach you to not use all of the hot water at rich girl-school?"

I heard London's chuckles off revenge drafting into the bathroom and rolled my eyes at her childishness. "What do you want to do then? Since you know, you can't go to Paris today?"

"I don't know. Maybe we could hang out at the juice bar? I hear Maya's off the hook today…" I could hear London blow-drying her hair in our bedroom.

"How about we hang out on the Sky Deck and finally try the hot tub? I've been wanting to try it since I arrived for the first time on the boat."

"Fine by me, but then we'll first have to go shopping for a new bikini…" she started.

"London! We're on a BOAT! In the middle of the OCEAN!" I yelled for what felt like the hundredth time.

"I know that! What I meant was; we'll first have to go shopping for a new bikini in one of the secret stores."

"What are those?" I asked her while rinsing the shampoo out of my hair and applying conditioner.

"Stores filled with clothes I ordered online. Daddy lets them be brought over to the ship. The ones I don't like are for the shops on the boat."

"Oh. Okay then." I wasn't surprised at all. Of course London would find a way around her father's strict "No stores masked as your closet!"-rule.

"And as for your hot tub idea: brilliant but if the others are up for it, then I have to show you guys something." London said while walking over to her beauty-case.

"Fine by me. Send Maya and Addison a text, would you? I'm just going to finish up here and I'll be out in a few minutes!" I said while turning the faucet getting ready to enjoy a day with my friends.

* * *

_Wednesday, 11:45 a.m._

When we arrived at London's hidden closet, for it was a closet and not a 'hidden shop', our mouths had dropped open at the sight of such beautiful, expensive clothes.

When London told us we could pick any article we wanted (she had already picked out everything she had wanted to keep), our mouths had dropped open even wider.

I had picked a hot pink bikini with the waistline decorated with little gemstones and a black silk cover-up. I had topped it off with a huge pair of sunglasses, courtesy of Arturo Vitali. Addison had chosen a swimsuit a bit more conservative and picked out a purple one piece with polka dots in the form of little butterflies. She chose a white cover-up and sweet heart-shaped sunglasses from the Material Girl Collection of 2010. Maya had gone all the way and had chosen a strapless emerald bikini with a bottom that was held together by thick straps hidden by a bow tie. She had chosen a white crocheted jumper that reached her belly-button as a cover-up and hid her bottoms with ripped-jean shorts. She had put her sunglasses in her long brown hair and waited for London to come out of the changing cubicle. When she finally emerged, London looked nothing less than adorable. She had chosen a Hawaiian style bikini and cover-up and had even put a flower in her hair.

Declaring each other dressed well-enough for the afternoon of swimming and relaxation time, we linked arms and headed to another hiding-spot of London.

When we got there, it was clear someone else had already discovered London's secret get-away.

All four boys, Zack, Cody, Marcus and Woody were either in the hot tub (Marcus), sunbathing on a reclining chair (Woody) or playing a little volleyball (Zack and Cody).

I felt myself freeze when I looked at Cody, bare-chested and glistening with sweat.

"Guys…" I whispered.

"Shh, it's okay." Addison squeezed my hand. "Don't let it bother you."

"Yeah… Bails, you might have just broken up with him, but I'm thinking the sadness might be turning into anger by now. Under that silk cover-up of yours you've hidden your weapon of revenge. Dressed as you are, it wouldn't surprise me if Cody drooled even more over you as Woody does over a meatloaf."

"Besides, he's still our friend. He's been mine for the past 6 years. I know he hurt you, but one day you'll have to get over it and start being able to be around him." London said.

"You're right. Let's kick their asses." And we stripped down to our swimwear.

Would it surprise you if I told you we didn't have any problems winning the volleyball-game? If I told you we played girls vs. boys?

* * *

_Thursday:_

By Thursday I could stand being around Cody without threatening to break down in tears. The whole afternoon spent together cleared all the tension and we were able to enjoy ourselves well into the night.

That might've been the reason why I could barely stay awake during French. We were revising the tenses and as Ms Tutweiller asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up, I mistakenly answered her:

"_Je suis le président de l'Amérique."_ Which means so much as : I'm the president of the United States.

"Move over, Obama!" Cody had joked. "Ladies and gentlemen: meet your president, Ms Bailey Pickett!"

The class had cracked a smile and even Ms Tutweiller had let a grin grace her face.

"Okay, then." She had said. "It's very obvious to me that many of you have had the time of their lives yesterday, with the sunny weather and such, so: why don't you write an essay on your day free of school and I'll dismiss this last class of the day?"

The class nodded eagerly and started clearing out. "Don't forget the essay!" She yelled after us as we all made our way up to the Sky Deck.

Zack and Maya, who weren't in our French class, were waiting tables as we arrived on the deck. Woody was sitting at a table, staring intensely at his computer.

"Hey!" Zack said. "How come you're out already?"

"Class got dismissed." Addison said as she headed straight for the table Woody was sitting at. As she was walking over, she started a conversation with him while they were still more than 10 feet apart from each other.

"Hey, Bailey. How was French?" Maya asked while I took a seat at the counter she was clearing.

"Fine. Cody made a joke, I laughed at it. It feels as if maybe, we could be friends again."

"That's great." She said. "Don't be the woman that needs a man, be the woman a man needs." She winked and brought a tray of smoothies over to a table of young guys, maybe a few years older than ourselves.

"Eyes above the waist, my friend!" We could hear Zack yelling. He sounded a little pissed off.

"What's with him?" I asked her. Instead I got an answer from someone seated behind me.

"He's jealous." Cody said smiling. "The leader of that little gang, a would be-famous band I'm told, has been hitting on Maya all afternoon and Zack's getting a little worried."

"Why?" I asked as I turned towards Cody. "What's there to be worried about?"

"The guy's a musician, Zack's not. Maya's last boyfriend was a musician."

"Ah." I nodded in understanding. "But still, why is he mad if the guy is flirting with Maya? It's not as if they're together."

"If it were up to Zack, they would be. I'm sorry to cut this conversation short, but my shift is starting soon and I have to get ready. I'll talk to you later?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure. It was nice talking to you, Cody. See you later." I smiled.

"It was, wasn't it? See you, Bails." He winked and went off to his cabin.

Maya came back over and raised her eyebrow. "Did I just see you and Cody have a civil conversation? My, my… Miracles do still exist!" She grinned.

"What's with you and Zack? He looked ready to poke the guy's eyes out if he stared at your behind one more time!"

She shrugged. "I'm not the kind of woman that needs a man to defend her honor. If I think the guy's crossing a line, I'll tell him. Until then, I couldn't care what he does or what he watches and if he annoys Zack in the process."

"That's the second time you said that." I noticed. "I'm not the woman that needs a man… And the first time you said 'Don't be the woman that needs a man, be the woman a man needs'."

"Yeah so?" Maya asked. She starting washing used cups.

"It should be in our book of Rules. I'll go get it right away!" I started getting up and nearly tripped over my own feet in my excitement. I felt an arm wrapping around my waist to steady me.

_I know this arm… And the smell to go along with it… I also know the chest I'm being pulled into… Cody…_

"Eurhm, thanks Cody." I said blushing.

"How did you know it was me?" He asked.

"How were you able to catch me so fast?" I asked in return. "Why not just dropping me?"

"I'll never let you fall, Bailey. I made that promise once, I intend to keep it."

"The texture of your arm. The feel of it around my waist. The smell. Your chest." I said. He raised his eyebrows.

"That's how I knew it was you. Now if you'll excuse me; I have somewhere I need to be. Bye Cody." I ran away, the color of my face a deep tomato-red.

I felt my phone vibrating in the pocket of my jeans.

"**Smooth…**" was the sole word that was sent to me. I could see Maya smirking from the other end of the deck, waving her phone in the air.

"**Meet me in my cabin? We'll make the new rule official when all four of us are present?! –B**" I quickly typed my reply and pressed 'send'.

"**Tomorrow,8 PM sharp. We'll make it a sleepover. U inform A&L**." I received Maya's reply and went in search of Addison and London.

* * *

_Friday, 8 PM:_

When I entered my cabin, I could barely recognize it. London had shut the curtains of the porthole, the lights were dimmed, the beds pushed together, a large white screen and projector were installed and connected to a DVD-player, the stack of DVDs already lying next to it.

On the floor in front of the white screen were my friends sitting. They had formed a circle and had left open a fourth spot for me. Around us twenty-some candles had been lit. The notebook was lying open in the middle.

"The honor is yours, Bailey. Rule No. 2 will always be your Rule." Maya said seriously.

"Date?" I asked in an official tone. "October, 17th." Addison replied.

"The Rule?"

"Be the woman a man needs, not the woman that needs a man." Maya answered.

"Story?"

"Bailey dealing with her broken heart after breaking up with Cody Martin." London said. I had never heard her speak so seriously. There wasn't even the slightest hint of a smile on her face. Clearly, she took this idea of hers as more than just some teenage girls messing around.

I shut the book and put it in London's bedside table and then turned the lock.

"It's done." I said.

"The second rule has been written down."

"Time for a movie!" Addison suddenly yelled out and we all started laughing.

"Oh my god, Bailey! Your face when you said 'It's done.'! It was like you had killed someone!" Maya almost roared with laughter.

London's happy chuckles joined in. "What movie are we going to watch?" she asked.

"Why don't you choose, London?" I suggested. "After all, the notebook of Rules was your idea…"

"Fine by us…" Addison said and Maya nodded in agreement. Both of them had already installed them in the make-shift bed.

"Let's watch 'Over her dead body'! I love that movie!" She clapped in her hands.

"Anyone object?" I asked and the other two shook their heads.

"Then it's settled. We're watching Eva Longoria's revenge!" I said and I popped the DVD into the player ready for an evening of fun with my three best friends…

* * *

Note from the author: There you have it, people! Chapter two of Rules of 'Suite Life Ladies'. I hope you've enjoyed this somewhat longer chapter and I also hope you'll click this beautiful review-button winking at you from below. I've included the third rule, so those of you who wish to help me: feel free to leave a review or PM me!

* * *

**The Third Rule of A (Suite Life) Lady: Always accept a compliment.**


	3. Rule No 3: Always Accept A Compliment

**Rules of Suite Life Ladies**

Note from the author: Hey all! Here it is. Chapter 3 of 'Rules of Suite Life Ladies'. I really want to thank everyone who took the time to review and all my story-followers. Also, everyone who read the story: a massive thank you! I hope you'll enjoy the third chapter and don't forget: be sure to leave a review! I'll include the fourth rule at the end! Happy reading! – RPL

Disclaimer: I don't own TSLOD!

In this chapter: Addison meets Brock while playing Better Life. (Don't worry: I'm not going to write the whole chapter in the way Addison usually speaks. You'd go nuts reading that! I'll just use that when she's talking to someone.)

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**The No. 3 Rule of a Suite Life Lady: Always accept a compliment**

Addison POV:

It had been a week since I had discovered the beautiful and amazing world of 'Better Life'. The game had such an impact that it had changed my real life. In the world of 'Better Life' my name was Peaches, and I had short reddish hair, perfect female curves and a boyfriend! His name was Brock.

As Brock and I got to know each other, I felt myself falling for him. I fell for his jokes, for his theory on the existence of aliens, for his love of food and sweets… Even his way of always mixing up K-ing me and Alt K-ing me made me laugh… He really was everything I wanted in a boy.

But even though I fell for all this things, I couldn't help but picture Brock a bit more chubby and with a messy disarray of curls on top of his head. Not some dude who only spent time in the gym or in front of the mirror, styling his hair so it fell just the right way.

I sighed realizing I was hiding behind Peaches and Brock's relationship. If they had a relationship, me making my move on Woody would feel like betrayal and whoever Brock was, would surely be a little bit annoyed. I was using their relationship to hide my fear of rejection. And my friends knew that…

* * *

I was spending some time with my friends on the Sky Deck while Maya's was waiting tables when Bailey suddenly asked me about Brock.

"So, Addison," she prodded. "Any luck finding out who Brock is, yet?"

Woody, who was seated next to London and glued to his computer, choked on his smoothie.

"Not yet, Bailey," I started rambling. "But I'm sure that when I do he'll be a great guy and we'll have lots of fun and he'll be really handsome and so funny and…"

"Okay," Maya laughed. "We get it! You're really into this guy behind Brock…"

"I don't get it," London suddenly said. "Why are you so hyped about a guy you've never met? For all you know it could be some kind of old creep digging young girls?!"

"I don't know," I said thinking it over. "I guess it's just… He holds my hand and he kisses me (when he doesn't kick me, he keeps forgetting it's Alt-K and not just K) and he says these sweet nothings and he gives me compliments and he's just so sweet and…"

"Addison!" Bailey, Maya and London yelled together. "We get it!"

"Always accept a compliment, huh Addison?" Maya smirked.

"Hey!" Bailey suddenly piped up. "Say that again, Maya?"

"What?"

"The thing about accepting a compliment!"

"What? 'Always accept a compliment'?" Maya voiced. "What's so special about it? My grandma in New York used to say it to me all the time…"

London had, for once, obviously quickly caught on and was already digging through Bailey's backpack looking for something.

"What? What's going on? Guys?" I asked. "London, what are you looking for? And why are you looking for it in Bailey's backpack?"

"I'm looking for our notebook, duh! It's Rules-time!" She sing-songed.

"You won't find it in there," Maya said. "I took it with me, this morning. I've been thinking about some poems that might fit in there. I think it's in my bag, which I've dropped off in our cabin after school was out."

"Then we'll go get it." I said. "Meet us in our cabin after your shift, Maya!"

And the three of us were off.

* * *

When Maya joined us, our cabin looked just like Bailey and London's did last week when we wrote down our second rule.

"Wow, girls!" Maya whistled. "Now you've even brought out some music!"

The song playing in the background was "Secret" by The Pierces and London had stumbled across it when searching through Cody's iTunes-music collection for her web show. We had to admit: London did have a knack for finding the right song.

"Yeah. Now sit down Maya and lit the last candle. That way the circle of secrets will be completed."

Maya lit the candle like she was asked and took her place in our circle.

"Addison…" Bailey started to say, when suddenly the door flew open.

"Found 'em!" Zack yelled at someone down the hall. "They're sitting in a circle with candles lit around them! It's like they're going to make a human sacrifice or something!

"Can I watch?" He asked Bailey.

"No! Now get out!" She screeched. She seemed really uncomfortable and the reason why soon became apparent.

Cody entered the room. Soon followed by Marcus, who waved enthusiastically at London and took a seat next to the heiress, who was followed by Woody (my heart did a little back-flip).

"What are you doing here?" Maya asked bewildered.

"They missed you!" Woody said pointing at the other three. "I'm just here because Cody threatened to steal my computer and delete 'Better Life'."

"You play 'Better Life' too?" I asked suddenly interested. "Do you know a Brock?"

It never hurt to ask. Maybe Brock was not some creepy old dude but actually a really nice guy… Maybe someone who could help me get over Woody, as I was clearly getting nowhere with him.

"I, euhrm,…" He stuttered.

"Hey, Woody! Isn't your character in 'Better Life' called Brock?" Zack asked. "You know, the guy that's always in the gym or hanging out with his _girlfriend_ Peaches?!"

"You're Brock?" I asked Woody. The surprise couldn't have been bigger, nor could it have been any more pleasing.

"Surprise?" He said. "Listen, I know I'm probably not the guy you've expected Brock to be and if you want we could just break up and we can go back to being friends and…"

I laughed. For once I was not the one doing the rambling.

"I don't get it," Marcus whispered in London's ear. I could see him enjoying her close proximity all the way from where I was seated. "Were they going out then?"

London leaned even closer and started explaining everything in a hushed whisper.

"No, it's fine, Woody," I assured him. "I'm really happy it's you and not some old creepy dude like London had predicted."

Woody's face lit up in a big smile. "Really?" he asked. "Really!"

"Yay! A happy ending for Woody and Addison and a happy ending for Brock and Peaches!" Zack said suddenly. "Can we get back to why you girls are sitting in a circle in a darkened room?"

London was about to open her mouth and spill it all, when Maya shut her up with a pillow in the face.

"None of your business, Zack!" She grinned. "Girl stuff! Unless…" She trailed off.

"Unless what?" He prodded. "Unless what?"

"She said it herself, Zack," Cody suddenly spoke up. "It's girl stuff. I don't doubt they'll find a way for you to fit in!"

All the occupants of the room roared in laughter at Zack's face, which was red with embarrassment.

"I'll have you know I'm a very manly man!" Yet, at that exact same moment his voice decided to squeak.

"Guess you're not so much of a very manly man after all, huh Zack?" Maya teased.

I could see Zack turning even redder when Maya made fun of him… Lord, that boy had it bad!

"Let's get out of here," Marcus said, finally taking pity on his best friend. "Before Zack dies of embarrassment courtesy of the girl he's obviously smitten with, and before Bailey dives under her bed in discomfort of being so close to her ex-boyfriend!"

Marcus started rounding up all the guys and several annoyed voices let out a 'Hey!'.

"Bye, London!" Marcus waved like a love-struck fool and he gently shut the door.

"But I wanted to know what they were up to! We've barely seen them these past two weeks! They're our friends!" We could here Zack whining as the boys walked down the hall.

"You just want to hang out around Maya! You're pathetic!" Cody said. This was quickly followed by a pained cry of 'Aw!'

"Five bucks say Zack smacked him over the head!" London said, not even looking up from her nails.

"You're on!" Maya smirked as she got up and ready to head out.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Bailey asked.

"To see if London won the bet?" Maya asked.

"No way! We got together to write our third Rule before those idiots interrupted us and we will write it down!"

"Sure thing, Bailey!" I said. "No one, not even Woody or any of the other guys, are allowed to interrupt our sacred ritual of Suite Life Lady Rules!"

"Besides," London said while inspecting her freshly-filed from afar. "If you immediately darted after Zack, it would seem as if he's not the only one missing his crush! He'd immediately suggest you're stalking him!"

Maya shuddered as she realized we were right. She quickly took her seat again.

"Let's write this Rule down, shall we?" She said.

And we did.

* * *

An hour later the third Rule glistened in fresh ink.

**Date: 25****th**** of October**

**Rule: Always accept a compliment.**

**Story: Addison liking a virtual guy and even though she didn't have any idea who he was, she was still flattered by the compliments he made her.**

* * *

Note from the author: There it is, people! The third chapter of 'Rules of Suite Life Ladies'. I'm not so sure if I like the chapter, but I really hope you guys do! It wasn't easy writing it. For one; I had to study for my Geography final tomorrow and second; I realized we didn't really get to know Addison during the show. I really tried writing the 'Better Life'-experience from her point of view, and I must say: I underestimated it! Do let me know what you think! Click the review button! –RPL

The Fourth Rule of a (Suite Life) Lady: If he leaves or gives up on you, remember it's his loss. Not yours.


	4. Rule No 4: If he leaves, it's his loss

**Rules of Suite Life Ladies**

Note from the author: Hey all! I'm back! Finals are over, I don't have to go to school until Thursday and I have cleaned my room! Therefore, so much free time to write you guys some (hopefully awesome) chapters for this story and to start a new story for all those Zaya-lovers out there! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and don't forget to leave a review! –RPL

Disclaimer: Even though I didn't fail even one exam and clearly deserve a reward for that, nobody has bothered to purchase the rights to The Suite Life On Deck for me. There's always my birthday in a month?! Until then; **Disney owns the Suite Life On Deck**!

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**The No. 4 rule of a Suite Life Lady:  
If he leaves or gives up on you, remember, it's his loss. Not yours.**

London POV:

I slammed Moseby's phone shut and heard Marcus asking me if my father had kicked me off the ship. My heart skipped a beat when I looked in his eyes.

"_Nah,_" I acted nonchalantly and waved the obvious concern in his voice away. I hid the fact that his concern had touched me. "_He just cut my allowance by fifty thousand a week._"

Cody spoke up. "_Well, it looks like nobody's leaving the ship after all._" The relief was visible on everyone's faces.

"_Yes!_" Marcus suddenly cried out. "_I'm leaving the ship!_"

"_What?!_" We all yelled.

"_But it was Moseby's fault!_" Zack said.

"_Oh, nononono,_" Marcus said. "_I know. But I just got an e-mail from those producers about my hip-hoppera. They said it was the most ridiculous thing they've ever seen._"

Clearly I wasn't the only one who didn't get this as Bailey asked him why he was so happy about that.

"_They said it's going to be the next big comedy. They're moving my whole family to New York, I'm going to star in a Broadway-show, I'm going to be the lead-tooth!_" The happiness radiated from his face.

The rest of the conversation I didn't hear. I was too busy replaying the sentence that completely devastated my already fragile heart. "_**I'm leaving the ship…**__"_

* * *

I fled the scene as soon as I could and when the time for Marcus' goodbye party came, I practically had to drag myself to the newly opened Aqua Lounge. I arrived more than a little too late, but I couldn't bring myself to care. After all, the guy I was secretly in love with, was about to leave this ship.

When I entered the Aqua Lounge, Marcus was obviously saying goodbye to everyone as I could see him hugging Zack.

I quickly joined my group of friends when Marcus cleared his throat for his final speech.

"_Well, listen guys,_" Marcus started. "_I just wanted to say 'thank you' for everything. Before I came here, I was going through a really really though time, but… You guys… Y-you took me in, you made me feel like family and I will always be grateful to you. So, thank you._"

Marcus had touched everyone's heart which such heartfelt words and I even heard Moseby let out a 'wonderful'. I grinned at the guy that had come to mean so much to me. He didn't notice and continued his speech.

"_And if you guys are ever in New York, please, just let me up._" He smiled at all of us.

"_You know what,_" Zack said. "_We might just do that someday…_" Unbeknownst to Zack, he had given me a golden opportunity to get Marcus alone. I really wanted to tell him how I felt, before he left me.

"_Ugh, someday,"_ I scoffed. "_How about now? Take me with you!"_ I pretended to playfully plead, but unbeknownst to everyone I actually meant it. Marcus seemed a little shocked at my little act and stuttered out an 'okay!'. He lifted me into his strong arms and I wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"_Next stop: Tiffany's!"_ I yelled out and Marcus ran out of the Aqua Lounge with me in his arms.

I smiled the whole way.

* * *

When we got to the lobby of the ship, Marcus put me down.

"I need to go grab my stuff," he said. "The ship will soon dock in Florida and my cab will be waiting to take me to the airport."

"Do you still have some time for a smoothie?" I asked him with a little pout. Others may think I didn't, but I definitely knew what kind of effect I had on Marcus Little. And I knew he couldn't resist me when I pouted. He didn't disappoint.

"I guess we still have a few hours until we dock." He said. "I'll grab my stuff later."

"Yay!" I said and I hooked my arm through his. "There's something I really need to tell you before you leave."

"What's that?" He asked curiously as he led me to the upper deck of the ship.

"I really think you should sit down first," I said. "And I really want you to listen to everything I say before you say anything…"

"You're scaring me, London." He laughed. "You're not about to confess a murder, are you?"

I grinned at him. "I might…"

Marcus shook his head and I looked over the list of smoothies.

"A large double Banana Fofana, please." I asked the barman. "Two straws. We'll share it."

Marcus raised his eyebrows when I said we'd share. It was considered a thing you do as a couple. We had seen Bailey and Cody share a countless amount of smoothies. I winked at him.

* * *

"Any particular reason we're engaging in such a couply activity, London?" Marcus asked as we sat down at one of the little tables.

"It's your last night on the ship. We might as well make it special." I shrugged. "Unless you don't want to?" I made sure to offer him a look so innocent that he'd give in to anything.

"Not at all, not at all…" He said. "Just wondering… What is it you wanted to tell me?"

"I'm going to ask you a question first and you have to swear to tell the truth.."

"Sure. Whatever you want to know. I have no secrets for you guys…"

"Do you like me?" I didn't beat around the bush. I really needed to hear him confirm what I already knew.

"I do." He said. The smile on my face almost split it in half. "You're a great friend, London." And the smile fell.

"Is that all I am?" I asked. The tears were gathering in my eyes. "A friend?"

"Well… I… I mean… You know… I…" Marcus was at a loss for words.

"Am I? Just a friend?" I really needed to know. "Be honest, Marcus. I really need you to tell me what you feel." An uncomfortable silence fell and I didn't try to break it.

"No, London." He said at last. "You're not just a friend. I've liked you since I got on board of this ship, I've been in love with you ever since you got married to Zack."

"Y-y-you're in love with me?" I spluttered. He nodded. "Why didn't you say something?"

"Because I knew you only like me as a friend. And because I love being your friend. I wouldn't want to risk that for anything. Because I knew that if I said something, and that when you told me you didn't feel the same way, I knew that things would get awkward…"

"Marcus…" The tears were spilling over. "I wish you had said something…"

"Why?" He asked. "Would it have mattered? You would've felt uncomfortable being around me and I would've felt miserable not being able to be around you. Not being able to be your friend…"

"Marcus…" I whispered. "I feel the same way. I've been in love with Little Little for as long as I can remember and then suddenly he shows up on this ship and I get to meet the person behind him. I became his friend and we discovered the world together. We visited foreign countries where he defended my honor and where I fell in love with him. I fell in love with you, Marcus."

"When?" he asked.

"When you fought Cody's crocodile…" I said. Marcus grinned at that memory.

"What happens now?" I whispered.

"What do you want to happen?" Marcus said while grabbing my hand. "We have the whole night before we dock tomorrow."

"I don't know… I mean… When I thought about what would happen after you told everyone you were going to leave, I just thought of a way to tell you what I feel for you… I didn't think any further ahead."

"London," Marcus stroked my cheek with his free hand. "How about we just enjoy being together for one last evening? It's a bright and starry night… We could catch the late night movie with the rest of the gang… I hear they're showing 'Titanic' tonight… The perfect sappy movie… We'll consider it our first date…"

"I'd like that," I smiled at him. "Let's text the others, shall we?"

Marcus paid for the drink and I grabbed my cell.

"_**Anyone up for Titanic? Marcus & I are waiting on the Fiesta Deck. –London**__" _

I pressed 'send' and took the hand Marcus held out.

"Our first date," he said while looking me in the eyes. I could feel the electricity between us and noticed I kept glancing at his lips.

"Marcus?" I whispered while taking a step closer.

"Yeah?"

"I know this is a bit unusual and it usually happens after the date and it's just I'm scared that I won't get the chance anymore and…"

"London!" he laughed. "You're talking like Addison! What's going on?"

"Close your eyes," I whispered taking another step closer. He did.

I pressed my lips lightly on his. He opened his eyes in shock.

"I didn't know if I would get another chance." I said, biting my lip. "I thought I might as well go for it while I still had the chance…"

"I completely agree with that." He said and he pulled me into him. He placed his hand on the side of my face while the other wrapped itself around my waist.

"We should head up to the Fiesta Deck," I whispered while wrapping my arms around his waist.

"We should," He said while touching our foreheads together. "The others will be waiting for us."

"Uh-huh," I nodded. "But let's kiss first?!"

Marcus chuckled and pressed his lips on my forehead. I pouted.

"What's wrong?" He asked worried.

"You missed." I answered. He kinked an eyebrow.

"I wanted you to do this…" And I stretched so I could press my lips once more to his.

"Hmm," he said. "I think I get it now."

"Do you?" I asked. "Do you really?"

"Yes, I think so. But let's test it, shall we?" And he kissed me once more.

"This is the sole kind of test I like," I grinned. "A+ for you, Mr. Little."

"Let's go up to the Fiesta Deck, before we miss the movie… If we keep this up we'll never get to that first date…"

I grinned and grabbed his hand. "Lead the way, Mr. Little."

* * *

We had had a blast the night before, but unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. And so did our first date.

When Marcus had dropped me off at my cabin, he had hugged me really tight and had whispered 'thank you' into my hair. My tears had soaked the shoulder of his shirt.

"It's going to hurt being away from you…" he had said.

"I know, baby. It's going to hurt being away from you too," I had replied. "But I promise I'll come see you in New York. As soon as possible."

"I can stay if you want me to," he had said. "I could just call those producers and tell them I do not wish to go through with it…"

"You can't do that… You've worked so hard on it. You have to show the world how amazingly creative you are. We'll Skype every day and you can tell me how everything is going…"

"You sure?" he had asked.

I had nodded vehemently. "Yes."

"I'm glad you want me to go too, because I really want to do this…"

He had given me one last kiss on the forehead and I had gone inside. Bailey was already soundly asleep snoring away, but I shook her awake anyway.

"Bailey!" I had whispered. "Bailey!"

"What?" she looked through her eye-lids at me. "What are you doing still up? The movie ended two hours ago! It's three a.m. London!"

"I know, Bailey. I… I'm sorry. Just go back to sleep. I'll talk to you in the morning." I went into the bathroom and slammed the door on my way in.

I took a long look at myself and didn't see any resemblance with the image I had seen on the ocean surface on my walk with Marcus.

That girl had had the spark of love in her eyes while mine were dead. There was no sign of the usual twinkle and my eyes were red-rimmed. The heartbreak clear on my face.

"You can do it, London. Tomorrow, when Marcus leaves the boat, you'll kiss him and tell him you're proud of him. You'll hug him really tight and you'll wave with the others. He won't see how hurt you are…" I said to myself. I splashed my face with some cold water and turned my back to the mirror.

I quickly clambered into bed and turned off my bedside lamp. I fell into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

When the sun rose and morning came, Bailey shook me awake.

"London," she said. "You have to wake up and get ready! Marcus is leaving in an hour! Get up!"

I grumbled and turned over to lay on my front. "It's too early, Bailey. I'll wake up later. Daddy owns the boat, I don't have to worry about being late!"

I hadn't opened my eyes, but if I had, I would've seen Bailey rolling her eyes.

"Get up, you lazy girl," she said. "Or I'm taking away your covers!"

I opened one eye and stuck out my tongue. "I don't want to get up! It's too early! Besides, if I get up, then Marcus leaves. I don't want him to leave, so I won't get up!" It made perfect sense to me.

"London. Marcus is your boyfriend! You have to say goodbye!" She was really getting on my nerves. "Get up!" She pulled the covers off of me and grabbed the glass of water standing on my bedside table.

"Get up or I'll pour the glass over your head!" she threatened. Knowing she would go through with it, I quickly sat up.

"Sheez," I said. "What's gotten your panties in a twist?"

"Nothing…" she shrugged. "It's just… I'm… I can't…"

"Huh?" I said. Hey, don't judge! I was barely awake and she was talking in riddles!

"I'll take to you about it later! Now, get in the shower and get ready! When you come out, we'll go say bye to Marcus and then we'll meet Addison and Maya here and you can tell us why you woke me up at three a.m. this night!"

I did as she asked me (she was still holding the glass of water) and grabbed my bag of toiletries. "I'm going!" I said and I slammed the door shut.

* * *

When it was time for Marcus to leave, I was the last one he said his final goodbyes to.

"I'm going to miss you, London." He said while hugging me.

"I'll miss you too," I said through a watery grin. "Go be great in New York, Marcus! I'm sure everyone will love you over there. As will I from this boat!"

"Thanks, baby. That means a lot." Marcus looked me in the eye and I felt my stomach do a little flop while my heart skipped a beat. A little thought of '_I wonder if I should see a doctor about that?!' _flashed through my head, but I pushed it aside.

"I'll try not to miss this time." He grinned. I could see tears blinking in his eyes, too.

"Are you crying, Mr. Little?" I couldn't help but tease him for the last time. "You know, that's not very manly…"

He grinned. "Being incredibly and irrevocably in love is also not considered to be very manly. It's not really playerish… And real men are players… But I don't care. You know why?"

I shook my head. "Why?"

Marcus touched our foreheads together and said "Because real men don't get London Tipton to be their girlfriend… So I'd rather not be a real man but your boyfriend than the other way around…"

"I think that answer deserves a kiss…" I grinned and touched our lips together. I heard a chorus of 'awww' coming from our friends.

The cab, waiting for Marcus on the shore, honked.

"I'm sorry to ruin this moment," Moseby said. "But it's time for you to leave, Marcus. Traffic is said to be a real pain today and the plane won't wait for you…"

"He's right, Marcus," I said. "I don't want you to miss your plane because of me. Your parents are waiting for you…"

He pressed our lips together one last time. "I'll miss you, London Tipton."

"I'll miss you, too, Marcus Little." I said, a lonely tear escaping and making its way down my cheek. He wiped it away.

"Don't cry, London. You'll make me cry!" He laughed. I could see the tears blinking in his eyes. The cab honked once more.

"Your bags have been loaded in the cab, Mr. Little." The bellboy said and he left me and Marcus to it.

"Marcus," Zack said. I turned around to look at him and felt my heart melting at the image before us. Maya was trying to put up a brave front but was secretly wiping the tears from her cheeks, Zack had his arms wrapped around her, Addison and Woody had also wrapped their arms around each other and Cody and Bailey were holding hands. "It's time for you to leave. I can see the cab-driver making some very rude gestures."

"Go, Marcus. Before you miss your plane." I let go of my boyfriend of one day and took a step back. Immediately, I felt myself being swept into three pairs of female arms.

Marcus sighed and grabbed his backpack. "See you guys in New York!" He said and he waved one last time.

The seven of us waved back with the tears streaming down our cheeks.

* * *

We made our way up to the Sky Deck and sat down at the smoothie bar. The Sky Deck was quiet as most of the passengers had opted for an excursion in Miami.

"I can't believe he's gone," Maya said. "It's so unreal."

"At least he's doing something he loves… For all you know, he could have needed to get off the boat because something had happened at home…" Bailey said while rubbing Maya's shoulder comfortingly. Maya smiled in gratitude.

"London? Are you okay?" Addison asked carefully. I shook my head.

"I'm not." I started sobbing. I had tried to keep the tears down for as long as Marcus was on the ship, but now that he had left it all come out.

"Shhh," Bailey said hugging me. "Zack, get her something to drink, would you?" Zack did as she asked him and gave me a cool glass of water. I smiled gratefully.

"I'm sorry, guys," I said. "I'm not normally like this. It's just…"

"London, we completely understand. You were in love with Marcus. It's normal for you to be upset. Just don't forget that time heals all wounds." Addison said. She grabbed Woody's hand just to make sure he was still there.

"Yeah, London," Bailey said. "I can only imagine what you're feeling right now. I don't think I would survive if the guy I'm in love with left the ship." Bailey went to stand next to Cody. He lifted an eyebrow and she looked him in the eye.

"Don't leave, Cody," she whispered. Clearly, that was a private conversation, but we couldn't not listen in. "Please don't leave me here."

Cody wrapped his arms around Bailey and shook his head. "Never, Bailey-bunny. Never." She wrapped her arms around his neck and started crying. The sobs wrecked her whole body while Cody tried to shush her and stroked her hair.

I smiled as my best friend found her true love once more.

"Are you okay?" Maya asked me. "It's not nice of them to act so romantically while you've just lost your guy." I smiled at Maya.

"No, I'm good. I'm so happy for Bailey. At least something good has come out of this endless pit of misery. She's back together with the guy that has held her heart for the past two years…" She smiled at me.

"Bailey told us you woke her up at three a.m. this morning. Anything you want to talk about?"

I nodded. "It's just… I love Marcus, I do… But last night he said something that made me feel like he didn't even care that we'd never have a chance at a normal relationship…"

"How so?" Addison asked me. She was watching Woody and Zack play a game of paper football and smiled at her guy and the smile on his face.

"He asked me if I wanted him to call those producers and tell them he didn't want to go through with it."

"What did you say?" Bailey said while taking a seat next to Addison. Cody took a seat next to her and draped her legs over his lap. He started massaging her calves as he talked to his brother and Woody.

"I told him to go to New York and show those people there how creative he was. And he said, and I quote, 'I'm glad you want me to go, because I really want to do this'. I felt like he had already given up on us…" Another tear rolled down my cheek.

"He left, London. And maybe he did give up on you, but… You know, remember that's his loss, okay? Not yours. You're still here with us and we're going to continue to travel across the world and you'll meet lots of great guys…" Bailey said.

"Yeah, London. Right now, it may hurt, but we're going to help you get through this, okay? Lots and lots of romantic movies, spending sprees and when we dock in Milan next month, we'll be just in time for the Fashion Week. Let's go see the new Arturo Vitali-collection, shall we?" Maya said.

I grinned at their attempt to console me. "That sounds nice." I smiled.

"Addison? You look so deep in thought? What's running through that mind of yours?" Bailey said.

"Something you said, actually." She answered. "It might even be our fourth Rule."

"What did I say?" Bailey asked confused. I looked at Maya to see if she had caught on, but she was staring at Zack. I chuckled at the love-struck look on her face. Bailey and Addison looked at me, wondering why I was laughing out loud. I pointed at Maya.

"Maya," Addison said in a sing-song voice. "When you're done staring at Zack, you might want to come back to earth and be present when we write down our fourth Rule?!"

Maya blushed and Zack winked at her. She quickly turned towards us.

"You know," Bailey teased. "It looks like Zack has worn down someone's guards. Something you want to tell us, Maya?"

"Yeah, something you want to tell them, Maya?" Zack whispered in her ear. "Or maybe something you want to tell me?" She shoved his face away.

"Go annoy someone else, Zack!" She said. "I've got better things to do than indulge in your fantasies of ever dating me!"

"Like what? Staring at and drooling over me?" He planted a big kiss on her cheek and scurried away before she could slap him. Maya made a sound that sounded a bit like an animalistic growl.

"Bloody annoying bugger!" she said. "What were you saying about a fourth Rule?"

"Changing the subject won't make the problem go away. Don't think we're letting this go," I winked. "But yeah, Addison, what were you saying about the fourth Rule?"

Addison cleared her throat. "Bailey said: '_He left, London. And maybe he did give up on you, but… You know, remember that's his loss, okay? Not yours._' Don't you think that would be a great Rule?"

"Addison, you're brilliant!" Bailey said. Cody lifted an eyebrow as he looked at his girlfriend. "Nothing for you to see, babe!" Bailey winked at him and she kissed his cheek. Cody blushed at the obvious display of affection, but turned back to the guy-conversation nonetheless.

"The power you hold over that boy…" Maya shook her head in amazement.

"You could have the same over Zack if you'd just admit you're into him…" I said while looking innocently over my glass. Maya chucked an orange at me.

"Hey!" I whined. "Don't throw fruits at the heartbroken heiress!" They giggled at my whiny tone.

"Back to the Rule, shall we?" Addison said. "What do you guys think: 'The No. 4 Rule of a Suite Life Lady: If he leaves or gives up on you, remember, it's his loss. Not yours.'?"

"Brilliant, Addison." Maya said. She was looking for her backpack as she spotted it behind the counter. "Great…" she muttered sarcastically.

"Zack?" He immediately straightened his back and came over to her.

"Yes, sugar?" He flirted. "What can I do for you?"

"W-W-Well, I-I-I kind of need my backpack… It's behind the counter and I can't reach it…" I could see Maya drowning in Zack's eyes.

"And you want me to get it?" he asked. She nodded. "Please?"

"Well, I think I'm going to need a compensation for that. After all, you could just go get it yourself and you want me to do it instead…" I could see the amusement twinkling in his eyes and I knew this was going to be good. I stole some kids popcorn and gave him a fifty in exchange.

Maya still hadn't managed to free herself of the Zack Martin-charm and nodded nervously. "What do you want?" She asked quietly.

"A kiss." He said. "On the lips. And if you refuse, a date. Tonight."

Maya sighed. "Fine." She said. "You'll get your bloody kiss. But, fair trade. You get me my bag, I'll give you your kiss."

I had never seen Zack react so quickly. In 10 seconds he had grabbed Maya's bag and had puckered his lips. Unfortunately, Zack had underestimated Maya's cunning mind and since he had closed his eyes, she was free of his irresistible charm. She grabbed an orange and pressed it to Zack's lips. She pried her bag out of his hands.

Zack opened his eyes in shock as he realized his "girl" wasn't kissing him back. Maya grinned at him as she said: "Didn't know you were so into oranges, Zack?"

He blushed until he had the color of a fire truck. "No fair!" he yelled.

"Is so! You said you wanted a kiss. You didn't say I needed to be the one kissing you!" And Maya threw the bag at me and started running. Zack threw his apron at his brother and said: "Cover for me!" as he started chasing Maya around the ship.

"Those two are so into each other!" Cody shook his head in amusement and threw the apron at the barman. "Zack's taking a break!" The barman nodded and smiled as he saw Maya and Zack rushing by.

"Since Maya probably won't be done anytime soon, what do you say for once just the three of us write down the Rule?" Bailey asked.

"What's that?" Cody asked looking at the notebook I had gotten out of Maya's bag.

"Nothing that concerns you." We said together. Cody held up his hands in surrender and got out from under Bailey's legs. "Noooo!" she whined. He grinned.

"I have a tutoring session at three, babe. I'll text you later, okay?" she nodded and he kissed her forehead. "See you later, Bails. Love you!"

"Love you too!" she said and she pulled him down by the collar of his T-shirt. "Not so fast, mister. I want a real one!" she wrapped her arms around his neck and the remaining three of us (me, Addison and Woody) coughed uncomfortably. Bailey got up.

"Why don't you two write down the Rule?" She said. "Something has come up. I'll be back in a few minutes…" And she dragged Cody behind her. Not that he was complaining, mind you.

"Young love," Woody shook his head. "Well, I'm off. It's time for the afternoon break in the sandwich bar." He ruffled Addison's hair and ran off.

"He's a strange boy," I said shaking my head. "Now, let's get writing shall we?"

Addison nodded and uncapped her pen. "Date?" she asked.

"The second of November." I answered.

"Rule?"

"If he leaves or gives up on you, remember, it's his loss. Not yours."

"Story?"

"Marcus leaves London on the S.S. Tipton to do a Broadway show. He gives up on their relationship before it has even started. London declared her love the night before."

Addison wrote the Rule down and showed me the still glistening paragraph. I blew on the ink until it dried and then slammed the book shut.

"Thanks Addison." I said.

"You're welcome, London." She answered.

"The fourth Rule." I giggled.

"Let's celebrate by going out tonight." Addison proposed. "I hear there's a party tonight on the Fiesta Deck."

"Let's do that. But first: Let's go shopping! My treat?!" Addison and I linked our arms and set off to find our friends.

* * *

Note from the author : Hey guys! Fourth chapter is done! Tell me what you think, okay? And don't forget to check out the Fifth Rule of a (Suite Life) Lady below! –RPL

**The Fifth Rule of a (Suite Life) Lady: If he doesn't respect you, then you deserve better.**


	5. Rule No 5: If he doesn't respect you

**Rules of Suite Life Ladies**

Note from the author: Hey all! Chapter 5 of 'Rules of Suite Life Ladies' is here! I hope you still like the story, because I'm telling you: I've got a whole bunch of rules left. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far and I hope you'll continue to do so! Also, I always post the next rule at the end. If you have an idea, be sure to leave it in a PM or a review and I'll gladly take a look at it. Anyway, enjoy the story and tell me what you think! –RPL

Disclaimer : I don't own the Suite Life On Deck!

**Extra author's note :**** I got the idea while I was watching the nineteenth episode of season 1 (Mulch Ado About Nothing). I know that at this time Cody and Bailey were not together yet, but if I want to follow the storyline as it is going right now, I must treat them as a couple! I really hope you don't mind! I hope you'll enjoy the chapter anyway!**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**The No. 5 Rule of a Suite Life Lady:  
If he doesn't respect you, then you deserve better**

Bailey POV:

I couldn't believe Cody had been so considerate. The moment he had found out I was feeling homesick, he had started organizing 'Kettlecorn on the Sea'. I must admit, he had done a darn good job. Everything looked just as it did back on the farm.

I really had no idea how thank him… When I saw Cody holding his arms out, I smiled and took several steps towards to hug him. Only did London have other plans. She wormed her way between me and Cody and directed her speech directly at me, as if Cody wasn't even there.

"_And,_" she said. "_One more surprise…_"

"_What?_" I really was curious to see how this evening could get any better.

"_I've flown in your old boyfriend, Moose!_" London seemed to be more excited about that than I was.

Suddenly, I heard a '_Hey all!_' coming from behind me and I knew this evening could only end in disaster. My competitive ex-boyfriend versus my slightly insecure new boyfriend?

I was reminded of a saying from my best friend in Kettlecorn: _ring, ring… Hello? –Yes, hi, this is disaster calling!_ I suddenly had the urge to crawl under my bed and hide there until tomorrow morning.

"_Moose!_" I yelled. A bit in shock, but also glad to see a familiar face. I hadn't realized how much I missed the people back home.

"_Bailey!_" He cried out as I threw my arms around his neck and he swirled me around. You may call me conceited, but I like to believe I had been missed at home, too.

"_I have missed you more than pigs miss their ribs in a barbecue!_" I giggled at the familiar saying. Seeing Moose made me feel like I was back on the farm, at least for a little while.

"_Oh, Moose, I'm so glad you're not still mad at me for leaving Kettlecorn._" At least, he didn't seem mad.

"_Ah, that's all slop under the draft! We're here together now,_" Moose walked past me and went to stand in front of London. "_Thanks to your roommate,_" He threw her a flirty grin and London did one of her signature perky little moves. "_Who, by the way, was surprised to find out I'm not actually a moose. She set a cage and everything!"_

I rolled my eyes at London's behavior but smiled nonetheless. That was just the way my best friend was. "_Yeah,_" I grinned. "_She may not be the sharpest pitchfork in the barn, but her heart is in the right place! Thanks, London!"_ I said.

"_You're welcome!_" She said. Clearly she was happy to see that I was acting so happy. And I was. I really couldn't thank my friends enough for this evening.

_I know a guy who's getting smothered with kisses tonight… _I thought to myself. I think I actually managed to get myself to blush?!

I shrugged off my self-inflicted blush and heard Moseby telling everyone it was time to square dance. Which, coincidentally, was my favorite part of the whole Mulch-festival. I looked around and searched the crowd for Cody, but before I could locate him, Moose had swept me off my feet and dragged me onto the dance floor.

* * *

I must say I had missed those typical Kettlecorn habits. I really enjoyed my evening, though I did feel sorry for Cody during the challenges. Clearly for some reason or another, he was trying to beat Moose but he had no luck. I just couldn't figure out why.

The challenges continued and as Moose beat Cody at chess, he won the final prize and handed it to me. He used one of the corniest pick up-lines, but I decided to go along with it. It had after all been a while since I had last heard one of those.

"_Hey Bailey, you egg-cite me!_" I laughed at the line and took over the huge stuffed chicken. "_Will you be my chick?_" I thought he was just joking around when he said that.

"_Oh, Moose, you always did know how to sweet-talk a girl!_" I giggled again and laid the chicken aside.

"_Then why don't you come back to Kettlecorn?!"_ His question overwhelmed me a bit. Sure, I had missed Kettlecorn, but I loved being on the boat and being with Cody. Before I could stare off into space, he continued. "_I know you've been missing home something terrible…_"

"_I have been a little homesick…_" I admitted, but before I could continue he interrupted me.

"_I knew it!_" I could see Moose getting ready to do a little victory dance. It was his way of gloating. I remembered him doing it quite frequently whenever girls were around, back home.

"_But…_" I tried to say. Once more, he didn't let me finish.

"_But?! There are no buts here! Buts are for saddles!_" I couldn't believe he would just shut me up like that. "_And I know what's best for my little cornflower!_"

If I had been holding a drink, I would've poured it right over his head. How dare he?! The nerve of that guy! I couldn't believe he had done it again! First the whole sweet talking business, the prize-winning and then the 'I know what's best for you'-speech! It was the 2007 Kettlecorn Mulch Festival all over again! That had been the year he had made his move and it had been exactly the same tactic. I couldn't believe I had almost fallen for it again.

Since it was time to crown the Corn King and Queen I couldn't answer to his last statement. But this battle wasn't lost yet!

I couldn't believe it when I was finally elected Corn Queen and I really hoped Cody would be Corn King. I did feel slightly guilty for spending the entire night with Moose instead of the guy who had made this all happen. I promised myself I would make it up to him as soon as the Festival was over.

Unfortunately, Moose got elected as Corn King and I was forced to share another dance with him. As soon as the song ended, I got off the dance floor and Moose helped me out of my cape.

I quickly went over to Cody who was standing by the snack table. I hugged him from behind and put my head on his shoulder.

"Hey, handsome," I said. I turned my head and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Hi, lovely Corn Queen," I heard the smile in his voice and he turned around. I couldn't help it and threw my arms around his neck.

"Thank you, Cody." I whispered in his ear. "This was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me! I can't believe you'd do this for me!" I pressed another kiss to his cheek.

"Why wouldn't I?" he grinned. "I make my girl happy, I get to see that beautiful smile gracing her face and I get kisses as a thank you! A guy would be nuts if he didn't do that for his girl!"

"Ah, Cody!" I giggled and combed my fingers through the hairs at the nape of his neck. I rested my head on his shoulder.

"_What's wrong?_" he asked. I tried shrugging it off and said "_Oh, n-nothing…_" Suddenly, I started blurting it all out.

"_I just have a really big decision to make…_" I lifted my head from its current position and looked into those blue-grey-greenish eyes that I loved so much.

"_Hmm,_" he said. I could see a spark of amusement twinkle in his eyes and I knew he was going to make a joke to make me feel better. I loved how I knew him so well. "_I'd go with the rhubarb over the apple. The feeling is runny!"_

I decided to play along with his little distraction. "_Yeah, I noticed…"_ I grinned. He pressed a sweet little kiss to my nose.

"_But,_" I went back to my big decision. "_That's not it…_" I took a deep breath as I tried to gather all of the courage I had in my body. Hey! Could you blame me? I was about to tell my boyfriend I was thinking of moving back home with my ex-boyfriend! You'd be nervous too!

"_What is it, Bails?_" Cody said. "_I can see you're hesitating to tell me… I won't be mad, I could never be mad at you… You know that!_"

I confessed. Warily. "_Moose just told me he loves me._" Cody's eyes got big. I had expected him to be stumped, I had been ready for him to get angry, but I wasn't prepared for this.

"_Really?_" Was all he said. I could see the gears starting the turn underneath that mop of blonde hair and I knew I would be pissed at him when the words started tumbling out of his mouth. I answered him anyway.

"_Yeah…_" I sighed. "_And he wants me to come back to Kettlecorn with him._"

The insecurity and fear of heartbreak were clear on Cody's face and I had subconsciously made my decision at that point. "_So what are you going to do?_" He asked in a voice so small, my heart broke.

"_I don't know,_" I answered truthfully. "_I'm just so confused…_" I shook my head at the feeling of incompetency. I truly did feel like I had no chance of doing the right thing. "_Baby, I trust your judgment. What do you think I should do?_" I felt the tears gathering in my eyes and one even escaped. A soft thumb wiped it away.

"_Hey, babe, hey…_" Cody pulled me even closer and started swaying me a little bit. "_Why are you crying? Everything's going to be okay, sweetie…_" He stroked my hair and massaged my neck a little.

"_I know, it's silly… It's just… I really miss everyone at home, but I can't think of leaving you here. I don't think I'd be able to breathe properly, knowing I was back in Kettlecorn, while you're here on the boat, surrounded by gorgeous girls…_" He grinned.

"_What should I do, Cody?_" I looked him in the eyes once more. "_Go home? Or should I stay?_" His beautiful orbs stared over my head at something behind me. His stiff composure made me realize something was bothering him and I decided it would be safer if I didn't turn around.

"_I'll tell you what you should do, you should…_" he looked down at me and the word got stuck in his throat. "_You should s-st-st…"_

I looked at him in confusion. "Huh?"

"_Stupid fly has been annoying me all night…_" That was a lame excuse. The lamest so far. Everyone knew there were no flies in the middle of the ocean. "_I think you should follow your heart, sweetie._"

I looked at him and we stared at each other for a minute. "_You know what?_" I whispered. "_You're absolutely right. Thanks, Cody._" I pressed a kiss to his cheek and rubbed my nose along the underline of his jaw.

I broke free from the safe haven that was the embrace of my boyfriend and say the questioning look on his face.

"I'm just going to have a chat with someone…" I explained. "I won't be long. Give me a few minutes, okay?"

"Hmmm," he said. "I don't think I can survive that without my source of oxygen…"

Now I was the one who was no longer following. He shook his head at the look on my face. "You're so cute when you're confused." He grinned.

"What did you mean 'I don't think I can survive that without my source of oxygen'? I know you probably said something romantic, but I don't quite follow…"

"And yet I've told you time and time again you're the reason I breathe, Bails… I meant that. I still mean that." I giggled my signature giggle and gave him another hug.

"You're so sappy…" I said. "You love me for it." Was the response.

"That I do, dear sweet Cody, that I do." I pressed a kiss to his lips. "Just something to make sure you'll have a reason to try and keep breathing. There are after all more where those came from." I winked at him and set of for my intended victim.

He shook his head as he saw me go. God, I loved that guy. Actually; God, I loved _my _guy.

* * *

I found Moose drinking a smoothie at the juice bar and went over to him. I noticed how the things that used to turn me into a mass of jelly didn't even cause one little weak joint.

_Guess I have found a better guy… Someone else who makes me feel the way he used to make me feel… I'm making the right decision here… I won't regret this…_

I practically skipped over to my ex-boyfriend.

"_Moose!_" I yelled. He turned around as he heard me.

"_Yeeees, darling?" _He voiced.

"_Soooo, I've thought about what you've said,_" I had decided I would drop this bomb gently.

"_And?_" I kind of got the impression he thought I was going with him. Back to Kettlecorn. Sorry, my friend.

"_And, I've decided to do what my heart tells me…_" Okay, maybe it wasn't nice of me to beat around the bush like that, but hey, I still had a little bit of payback to do before he left.

"_So, you're coming back to Kettlecorn?!_" I was touched he was so happy that I would be returning with him, but nevertheless, I didn't feel guilty for trashing his fantasy.

"_Heck no!_" I said.

I heard a familiar voice scream a 'YES!' and grinned at the guy before me. Moose looked over at Cody.

"_Finally caught that fly…_" he said as he noticed the not so happy look on Moose's face. "_Be free!_" The dramatics of his antics made the entirety of it all the more funny. I turned back to Moose.

"_Sure I miss Kettlecorn,_" I started to explain. _"But I love my new life here at Seven Seas High. There are so many great adventures out there and I don't want to miss 'em!_"

Cody suddenly spoke up from behind me. "_Absolutely right,_" he said. "_Next month we're going to the place where the plague started._" That guy really needed to learn when to shut up. And of course he wasn't done yet. He continued rambling complete nonsense. "_It's all okay now, though._" He must've seen the look on our faces and he chose to simply walk away.

_Smart guy…_ I thought. I turned once more to Moose. I noticed we were still wearing those Corn Crowns. I could barely hold my giggle at the ridiculousness of it all.

"_But what about us?_" Moose asked.

Seriously, how dense could a guy be? Had he not noticed mine and Cody's little public display of affection a few minutes ago?

_Maybe he chose to ignore it…_ a little voice in my head said. I pushed the voice away.

I decided to do him one last little favor. "_Moosey, having you here has been a hoot and a half!_" I smiled. I continued my sentence however because I thought he deserved to hear the complete truth. "_But it also reminded me of why we broke up. You're always telling me what to do. You think you know what's best for me, but you don't._"

I could see his ego had suffered a blow and he puffed out his chest.

"_Fine,_" he said. "_I don't need you anyway,_" Wow! That's something else from the 'I love you' from merely an hour ago. "_Mary Lou has been wanting me to take her to the movies!"_

Clearly he thought I'd get jealous of something, but I just raised an eyebrow. Not to brag or anything, but I'm a way better catch than that one-toothed ugly hag! I couldn't help but rub it in.

"_Mary Lou only has one tooth…_" He couldn't not have noticed that, could he?

"_Yeah,_" He said. "_But it's in the middle._" And now I knew why I had left Kettlecorn in the first place. Jeez, if that guy would ever be asked to multiply 4 and 4 he'd sure to have a panic attack as he didn't have enough fingers to count!

Moose turned around and went off to God knows where. I couldn't be bothered and turned back to Cody. He stood there grinning like a maniac.

"Corny-cola?" he asked while holding up his cup. I nodded thankfully and drank half of it in one gulp.

"I'm sorry about that. I had forgotten how much of an idiot he was!" We shook our heads and grinned at each other.

"So, why do you want to do now, chick of mine?" I groaned as he used the nickname.

"You heard that?" He nodded.

"That's so embarrassing," I moaned. I hid my face in my hands and felt him wrapping his arms around me. I threw mine around his waist.

"Hey, it's better to be my chick than his… Mine has all of her teeth while his has only one…" He winked at me and I giggled.

"You want to head out of here?" He asked. "They'll start cleaning this space up pretty soon and I don't want to be around when Moseby shows up. He'll just keep making bad corn-jokes!"

I laughed and intertwined our fingers. "Sure. Where to?"

"The Fiesta Deck?" He opted. I nodded and we climbed the stairs.

When we got to the top of the stairs I looked over the banister at what was left of the Kettlecorn Mulch Festival On The Sea. I made him turn around.

"Thank you so much for tonight, Cody," I said. "I really couldn't wish for a better boyfriend."

He smiled lovingly as he pushed a tendril of hair out of my face. "You're welcome, Bails. I had a lot of fun tonight…"

"You did?" He nodded. "I'm glad." I said.

"But, you know, if you want to really thank me, there's always something you could do?"

I looked at him. "And what would that be?" I asked.

"You could accompany me on a midnight stroll where you could surprise me with a kiss or two… Maybe three…"

"Like a date?" I asked. "Lord knows it's been a while since we've had one of those."

"Great idea, Bails." He looked at me with so much love that I couldn't help myself. I kissed him.

"Mmmm," he said afterwards. "One down, tons to go." I chuckled.

* * *

"I can't believe Moose was making all those moves on me! He must've seen we were together?!" I grumbled as we laid down on the reclining chairs on the Fiesta Deck.

"He didn't respect you, Bails, so he didn't deserve you." Cody murmured sleepily. His voice sounded so _sexy_ when he was drifting off to sleep.

"I think it's time we get you to sleep, mister," I said. "Lord knows you've been staying up long hours to make tonight happen…"

He grinned at me. "You know me so well." I kissed his cheek again.

We made our way back to our cabins with our arms wrapped around each other's waists.

* * *

"I can't believe Maya and Addison missed this!" I said as we were standing in front of my cabin. Even though he was clearly barely awake, Cody had insisted on dropping me off at my room. "They would've loved it!"

"Well, they're coming back tomorrow. You can tell them all about it. And maybe you could even write down a Rule in that little notebook of yours!" He suggested. "Surely you've learned something out of all of this?"

I nodded. "In fact, you were the one who gave me the idea for the Fifth Rule. Thanks babe!"

"Do I get a kiss? As a reward? For my creativeness?" I pretended to really think about that.

"Sure!" I grabbed his face and pressed our lips together.

When we separated at last, both our lips were swollen and our faces flushed.

"I should be going," Cody said as he rested his forehead against mine. "Before I do something stupid…"

"You should," I said. Yet I did not remove my hands from underneath his shirt.

"I'm going," he said. "It's a Saturday tomorrow and I plan on taking you out for the day."

"You're going." I nodded affirmatively. At long last, I pulled back my hands. He removed his from the back pockets of my jeans.

"Goodnight, Bailey." He said kissing me one last time on the forehead. "I love you."

I did the same to him. "Goodnight, Cody. I love you too, sweetie."

I entered my cabin and gently shut the door when I saw Cody rounding the corner of the hall.

* * *

When Maya and Addison got back the day after, London and I told them everything over breakfast. As it was definitely understandable, they were sad to have missed such a great evening.

"But," I said. "I have some great news! I, well actually it was Cody, have come up with a new Rule!"

"Wow," Addison said through a mouth of bread. "That's like the fifth already! And we're only 5 weeks at school!"

"Let's hear it, Bailey." Maya said. Clearly she had been capable of ripping her eyes away from her cellphone and the texts she and Zack were sending each other.

"The No. 5 Rule of a Suite Life Lady," London was scribbling it all down in our notebook. "If he doesn't respect you, then you deserve better."

Addison even applauded a little. "Soo true!" She said.

London quickly wrote down the date and the story and slammed the book shut and shoved it in her pink backpack.

"Why are you in such a hurry, London?" Maya asked.

At that moment we heard the intercom say we had docked in Rio de Janeiro.

"I got my allowance yesterday so I'm going shopping! See you!" and she set off for the streets of Rio.

We shook our heads as she left her backpack behind. Sometimes she was a bit like those crazy distracted professors in the movies.

I opened our notebook and stroked the page with the fifth Rule. I couldn't help but feel like it was one I shared with Cody, not so much with the other girls.

"**The No. 5 Rule of a Suite Life Lady: If he doesn't respect you, then you deserve better. –Cody Martin**"

I smiled as I read the name of the man I loved.

* * *

Note from the author : Here it is! Chapter 5! It's currently half past 12 a.m. so by the time this will be up and posted it will be around one! Excuse me if there are any mistakes. I really don't have the time to read it over. If you find any errors, alert me through PM or review and I'll correct them in the morning! Sleep tight. Xoxo –RPL

**The NO. 6 Rule Of A Suite Life Lady : You're beautiful and no one has the rights to tell you you're not.**


	6. Rule No 6: You're beautiful

**Rules of Suite Life Ladies**

Note from the author : Hey all! The sixth chapter of 'Rules of Suite Life Ladies' is here. I hope you haven't gotten bored with the idea yet?! Anyway, I want to thank everyone who has read and/or reviewed the story so far and tell you guys I really appreciate it. Also, someone has left me a review and started it with 'I'm sorry to bother you…'. Just so you know, I don't think you're bothering me at all. In fact, I love reading your reviews and your ideas. I really hope you'll enjoy this sixth chapter which I have **dedicated to** **Actsingdance23** because they really wanted a Zaya-chapter. Don't forget to leave a review?! –RPL

Disclaimer : I still don't own the Suite Life On Deck. Disney does. Neither do I own 'I'm in the band'.

In this chapter : Remember the guy who was flirting with Maya in chapter 2? The would-be famous musician? Well, he's wanting to take Maya out on a date. Let's see how this plays out, shall we? **PS: I never watched 'I'm in the band' so I have no idea if Tripp is really the way I portrayed him, but hey, this site isn't called FanFiction for no reason ;)**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**The No. 6 Rule of a Suite Life Lady:  
You're beautiful and no one has the rights to tell you you're not**

MAYA POV :

I was waiting a table when I heard someone calling my name. I turned around, thinking it would be one of my friends or classmates wanting a drink. How wrong I was…

"Hey! Maya was it?!" the voice called. "Over here, muppet!"

_Muppet?_ I thought. _Oh, this ought to be good…_

I saw that lead guitarist from Iron Weasel waving me over. Thinking it couldn't hurt to listen what he wanted, I went over.

"Hey, Tripp was it?" I said. "What can I get for you?" I wiped the counter clean and searched for a cup to serve him his drink.

"A date," he winked. "Tonight, after our performance on the Sky Deck."

"You? And me? On a date?" I raised my eyebrow.

Hey! Don't blame me! I barely knew this guy and he was a rock star! You'd be a little suspicious too.

"Yeah. Why not?" He asked. "You're hot, I'm hot, you're into rock music, I'm a rock musician. It practically screams 'perfect match'! Besides, I've been on this ship for the past week and all I've been able to think about is going on a date with one of these lovely ladies aboard this ship! And you're the Chosen One!" He made it sound as if I should fall to my knees and kiss his feet for the enormous favor he did me.

"Oh, really? And you're sure you want to go on that date with me?" I asked. Okay, I admit, maybe I was a _little_ flattered. "And what would the date entail?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out!" he said and he tapped me on my nose. "So? What do you say?"

"Hmmm," I leaned towards him over the counter. "I say one date usually doesn't hurt."

"So it's a yes?" he asked me. He seemed really happy with the answer. Or maybe it was just his ego talking.

At that exact moment, I saw a very familiar mop of blonde hair walking by.

_Zack…_

Would he be okay with it if I went out with another guy? I mean, we weren't going out, let alone dating, so it wasn't like I was betraying him… But then again, lately we had been hanging out together and it had been lots of fun. And he had admitted that he liked me as more than a friend… On more than one occasion.

"Hello?" Tripp said. "Weasel to Maya?! Yes or no? I haven't got all day, you know?" I could detect a hint of impatience even though he was already checking out Tiffany, another female customer. I never liked a guy with little patience. Besides, seeing as he was already drooling over one of our classmates, it didn't seem as if he was really all that into me.

"Y-yeah, let's go on a date tonight." I heard myself say.

_Wait, what?!_ My mind screamed at me. _Hello! You said it yourself, it doesn't seem as though he's really that into you… Why go out with him? It's only going to drive you and Zack further apart… And you know he's the guy you really want to be with…_

_Oh shut up!_ I snapped at the little voice.

"Great," Tripp said. "The show starts at 8 tonight, I guess we should be done with our set around 10:30 and with a few encores in mind, our date should be scheduled around 11. Dress pretty!"

He waved and sauntered off.

_Dress pretty? What does he think I am? Some piece of arm candy? _He was already starting to piss me off and we hadn't even gone on the date yet.

_Sweetie, _the voice was back. '_Dress pretty' ?! That means '_make sure I can get it off of you in a matter of seconds!_' in rock star-language. You're just the body he cuddles up to tonight… _

I sighed thinking the voice could be making a very good point.

_Great, now I'm having conversations with my mind! I need to go find Bailey, London and Addison! Before I go completely off my rocker!_

_No pun intended! _my mind giggled. I swear, the voice in my head actually let out a giggle!

I signaled the extra barman I would be taking my break and texted Bailey, London and Addison an urgent SOS!-message. We agreed to meet each other in my cabin.

* * *

"What's going on, Maya?" London asked as soon as I opened the door to my cabin. Her voice was laced with concern.

"Do you want me to go punch someone in the face for you?" Addison asked. She had been taking boxing classes for the last couple of weeks and was obviously willing to kick whoever necessary's butt!

"Maybe you should skip the boxing class this afternoon, Addison!" Bailey said carefully. Clearly she had noticed the heightened level of aggression in our friend, too. "What happened, Maya?"

"I might have done something very stupid this afternoon…" I started.

"What did you do? Agree to go on a date with a guy that's not Zack?" London joked.

The girls saw my blank, guilt-ridden face and their mouths fell open. Bailey was the quickest to get everything back together.

"You didn't," she said. "Please tell me you didn't do that to Zack!" I looked her in the eyes and all three of them knew the answer. I didn't even say it out loud.

"How could you?" Addison asked. Her voice had an angry edge to it.

"How could you do that to Zack? I thought you guys were friends! I thought you were even moving on to the next stage!" Addison turned away from me.

"What are you doing?" London asked when she saw Addison turning her back on us. "I really can't look at Maya right now!" was the answer.

"I thought you felt something more for Zack, Maya." Bailey voiced disappointed.

"Don't tell me you've been leading him on all this time?! Because if you do, I swear I won't be held responsible for the consequences…"

"I don't know what came over me…" I whispered. The tears were gathering in my eyes and my vision turned blurry.

"Why don't you start from the beginning, Maya?" London said. Clearly she was the only one willing to grant me the benefit of the doubt.

I took a deep breath and started the story.

"I was waiting tables and suddenly I heard that guitarist, Tripp, from Iron Weasel calling me over. He asked me out. While he was asking me out, he was already checking out another customer. He was also really impatient. Two things I hate in a guy so I started thinking of a way to let him down. Suddenly I see Zack walking past me. Before I know what I'm doing, I say 'yes' to the date-offer."

"So you were going to say no?" Addison, half turned around again, asked with an eyebrow raised. I nodded.

"Of course. I know what I feel for Zack, Addison, I know I'm falling for him, fast. I know he's a great guy and I really like him. It's just… I'm not ready to confess my feelings just yet."

"But why did you say yes to that Weasel-guy? He's trouble. So is the rest of his crew. They're practically wearing shirts that say 'trouble ahead!'…" Bailey was obviously trying to make sense of it all, but having no such luck.

"I don't know what came over me, Bails." I said. I wiped the tear that had escaped away.

"When are you guys going out on that date? Maybe we can think of a way to help you get out of it…" London proposed.

"Tonight, after the show," I said. Suddenly there was a little ray of hope shining through the clouds of disaster.

"The show starts at 8, ends around 10:30, he thinks there will be a few encores and assumes we'll be ready to go out around 11. He told me to 'dress pretty'…"

"That's rock star for 'make sure I can get it off fast'," Addison said. "My brother also plays in a little rock band and he uses the same line on his fans…"

"Thanks Addison," I grumbled. "Makes me feel really good about myself. As if it's not bad enough I'm going out with a guy other than the one I'm falling for, I'm also being bombarded to the category of… of 'desperate fan girls!" I cried out the last bit in frustration. Frustration caused by the lack of a better word.

"Bimbos." Bailey helpfully suggested. "Not helping!" I snapped at her.

"What am I going to do?" I said, dropping my head in my hands.

"I don't know, Maya." Bailey said. "But here's an idea; you could always not go to the show…"

"No way," I grumbled. "I never back down from anything. That's not who I am."

"Tell him you're sick." Addison suggested.

"That's the same as backing down… I don't do that."

"Go over to Zack, confess your feelings for him, go with him to the show and tell Tripp agreeing to go on a date with him was the worst mistake of your life." London said.

"That might work," Bailey sounded hopeful. "It's not as if Zack's going to turn you down. The guy's been crazy for you ever since you set foot aboard this ship."

"That's a great idea, Maya," Addison said. "And I know he and Woody are hanging out in the Aqua Lounge, playing videogames. Woody just texted me he's losing _again_…"

We all grinned at that. Some things never changed.

"One problem, guys," I said. "While he may accept my proposal for a date and go with me to the show, he's sure to be pissed off when he finds out I agreed to a date with Tripp. Worst case scenario, he dumps me right there and I have to go on the date anyway…"

"Yeah, that's highly possible…" they said.

"Well then," Addison said. "In that case, there's only one thing left to do…" I looked at the three of them.

"Go on the date with Tripp…" Bailey explained. "You never know, he might realize you guys aren't that good a match and let you off the hook early…"

"Besides," London said. "There's one good thing sure to come out of this…" she was actually smiling at whatever positivity she had found.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Duh, the sixth Rule of a Suite Life Lady…" she rolled her eyes at our obliviousness.

"And what's that?" Bailey asked eagerly. "Oh, I don't know yet," London admitted.

"She's right, you know," I said. "After tonight, we're sure to have a sixth Rule!"

The news of a possible sixth Rule brought a tentative smile to our faces. London suddenly clapped her hands. I looked at her questioning her chirpy attitude.

_Maybe you should question her sanity?_ My mind suggested.

_Bugger off…_

"If you do have to go on that date after all, you might as well look amazing. Let's go pay another visit to one of my secret stores…" she said.

"You mean one of your secret closets?" Bailey interrupted.

"Oh, hush," London waved the comment away. "I didn't hear you utter any protests when we were looking for a bikini a few weeks ago…"

Bailey shut up.

"As I was saying," London continued. "Let's go score some outfits for tonight. Daddy has sent me the newest collection of Arturo Vitali and I think I've spotted Avril's latest collection somewhere in there too, so… Let's go shopping, sweeties!"

I shook my head at my shop-addicted friend and took the arm she offered me. Bailey looped hers through my other arm. Addison locked our door and took London's other arm.

"Let's go shopping!" I said and we set off laughing.

* * *

When 8 PM rolled around and the Weasels were to start their show, I was still straightening hair and applying my make-up. Well, London was.

"We have to hurry up, London," Bailey said. She looked amazing in the skintight, grey jeans with the black killer-heeled pumps and the matching peplum top.

"Yeah, Woody, Cody and Zack are all waiting for us on the Sky Deck." Addison was bouncing on the balls of her feet in eagerness. This was going to be her and Woody's first public date and she was really pumped about it. London had chosen a flower-patterned dress for her and cute sandals to go with it. She looked nothing less than adorable.

"I know, I know," London said. "Just one last layer of blood red lip gloss and she's ready to go." London had also picked out my clothes and she had chosen a short, tight dress with an open back covered with lace. She had given me expensive, 4 inch high heels to wear with it. I looked, dare I say it, _sexy_…

London herself had opted for a dark blue jumpsuit encrusted with gemstones around her shoulders and black peeptoed pumps. The sapphires glittering in her ears made the outfit complete.

"Ready!" she declared and we quickly grabbed our purses.

"Who has the book?" I asked.

"I do!" Addison said and she quickly ran out of the room.

"Who has the camera?" Bailey suddenly asked.

"Why do we need a camera?" I asked. "Yearbook…" she replied.

"I do! Now let's get going!" London had grabbed her digital camera and ran after Addison.

"Ready?" Bailey asked me. I took a deep breath and nodded.

She smiled encouragingly at me and we ran after our friends.

* * *

By the time we got to the Sky Deck we had missed the first half hour of the show and the Weasels had called their first break. I couldn't bring myself to care about the lost 30 minutes since I had spotted Zack sitting with his brother and Woody. He looked really, really handsome in his dark jeans with the black t-shirt underneath a half-unbuttoned emerald green dress shirt. He had completed the look with a black blazer.

"Hey handsome!" I whispered huskily in his ear. He jumped about a foot in the air and let out a slightly girly shriek.

"Oh! Hey Maya!" He tried to collect his cool and lowered his voice a little. "Sorry about the shriek, I think I might have a bit of a cold."

"Suuure," Bailey said sarcastically from where she was seated. She had nestled herself in Cody's embrace and was resting her head on his shoulder. They looked so in love. Cody chuckled as his girlfriend made fun of his brother.

"Don't listen to her," I shushed Zack who was throwing Bailey a deathly glare. "I believe you… I've been feeling a little sick too."

"Poor thing," he said. "If you're cold, I'm here. Just say the word and I'll keep you warm." He winked at me.

"Promise?" I asked innocently. "Promise."

_I'll hold you to that one, Zack Martin._

"Listen, guys," I said. "I'm going to go find Tripp, okay?"

"Why?" Woody asked. London opened her mouth.

"Maya accidentally agreed to go on a date with Tripp, though she's falling for another guy. She's going over there hoping to find a way out of the worst mistake of her life."

I felt Zack freezing next to me. "You okay?" I asked him. I threw London a withering look and saw Bailey and Addison doing the same.

"I'm fine." He answered curtly and he got up. "I'm going to get something to drink." He just walked away without asking if anyone else wanted anything.

I felt something watery escape from the corner of my eye.

"LONDON!" Bailey and Addison yelled together. "Why did you do that?!"

"What?! I did say it was the worst mistake of her life…" she looked genuinely confused.

"Do you honestly think Zack picked up on that one?" Bailey asked exasperated.

"Wait? What is going on?" Cody asked. "What has Zack to do with all of this?"

Bailey looked at me. "Is it okay if we tell them what's been going on?" she asked me.

"Yeah, sure," I said. "Things can't get any uglier than they already are. I'm going to go talk to Tripp. Things aren't going to work out anyway…"

"Good luck…" Addison said.

"I'm sorry…" London blubbered at the same time. "I'm so sorry… Do you want me to talk to Zack?"

"Don't worry about it, London. Everything will work itself out, you'll see.. Though I would appreciate it if you talked to Zack for me." I comforted my friend. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to dump a rock star…"

"Huh," Addison said. "Why does it not surprise me to hear that particular sentence coming out of Maya's mouth?"

I heard the others laughing at Addison's remark.

_Ladies and gentlemen… I present my group of friends…_

* * *

When I found Tripp, he was standing by the smoothie counter. Only, he wasn't alone. He had his arm around Tiffany.

_No surprise there…_ I thought. _That girl must be as easy as they get…_ I went over to them anyway.

"Hey Tripp," I said. "I'm sorry I'm a little late… Are we still on for our date?"

"Eurhm, you see Maya," he started. "You weren't here and…"

"Hold on a minute…" Tiffany said. "What do you mean 'your date'?" she squinted her little rat-like eyes at me.

"Tripp asked me out earlier this afternoon. Did he not tell you that?" I asked sweetly.

"Is that true?" Tiffany asked Tripp. I could see little beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. "Is it?"

He quickly shook his head.

_My, my… Liar, liar, pants on fire!_

"Of course not, sweetie," he said, his voice wavering a little. "You're the only one I want to go on a date with…" He unwrapped his arm from around her waist and walked over to me. He seized me by the arm.

"Would you excuse us a minute, sugar?" He asked. "I'm going to hand her over to security. Desperate fan girls… Don't worry, I know how to handle them…"

Tiffany nodded elated and blew him a kiss. "I'll miss you…" she flirted.

"I'll miss you more…" he grinned and suddenly I had an urge to vomit all over London's expensive shoes. I guess this guy really was a rock star…

"Listen Tripp," I said when we were out of earshot. "I don't want to ruin your night with Tiffany. I'm actually glad you found a replacement for me that quick…"

"Oh, yeah?" He asked. "And why's that?"

"Because I was coming over to dump you, anyway." I shrugged. "2 minutes after I said 'yes' to your date-proposal I knew I had made the worst mistake of my teenage life. You were never the guy I wanted to be with. Sorry…" By the look on his face, his ego had clearly suffered a humongous blow to it.

"You know what?" he said hotheadedly. "I thought you were cool, Maya, but it turns out you're just as much of a bitch as all those other uptight New York-girls. At least Tiffany's hot. Not something that can be said about you…"

Now he had crossed the line. I'm normally not much of a vain person, but I'm not ugly either. I grabbed a glass from a tray of a passing waiter and poured the smoothie over Tripp's head.

"I hope Tiffany thinks you're hot, too, with the blueberries and such dripping down your shirt… Have a nice life, Tripp!" I smiled and walked off towards the guy I really wanted.

I just hoped London had been able to talk some sense into him. Just enough so he would take the time to listen to me.

When I got to the place where my friends were seated and I saw Zack sitting there, his long legs outstretched in front of him, fear got a hold of me and I choked.

I completely walked past them and ran up the stairs to the Fiesta Deck without looking at anyone of them.

I could only imagine the confused looks on their faces.

* * *

I had fled to the Fiesta Deck and made myself comfortable at one of the countless tables to watch the rest of the show. No more than 45 seconds had passed before I received the first worried text.

"**Where R U? Everyone is worried sick. U OK? –B**" I didn't even have the time to reply before my phone signaled the next concerned text.

"**I talked to Zack. He's willing to listen. Where R U? –L**" I was touched by the concern and tried once more to type a full reply. No such luck…

"**Where R U? Zack's pacing like a maniac. 3 more minutes and he's going to attack Tripp. Answer us! –A**" I grinned at the image of Zack beating up Tripp and pressed 'reply'. I started typing. Though I was once more interrupted.

This time I didn't mind in the slightest. This guy could interrupt whatever I was doing whenever he felt like it.

Two warm hands rubbed my bare shoulders. I hadn't realized how cold I was before those same hands wrapped a black blazer around my shoulders.

"I promised I would keep you warm, didn't I?" he whispered in answer to the question in my eyes.

"Thanks." I whispered back. "Are you still mad at me?" I asked.

"Not as much as I was 20 minutes ago," he replied. "Though I would like an explanation as to why you would want to go out with a guy that's here for only one week whereas you keep rejecting me even though I genuinely like you…" I could see the hurt in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Zack." I started. "I really didn't know what I was doing. He stood there, asking me out, and then you walk by and before I know it I've agreed to go on a date… I didn't mean to hurt you… I was never interested in him"

"Why did you go over to him tonight, then? If you weren't interested?" Zack had taken a seat next to me but was careful to not touch me at all.

"I went over there to dump him and found him with his arm wrapped around Tiffany…" I shrugged it off like it was no big deal.

"I'm sorry about that." Zack said. He tried to sound as if he truly did feel sorry, but I could hear the relief in his voice.

"No, you're not," I grinned. "But neither am I, so you don't have to feel guilty about not feeling sorry."

"You know me too well…" he winked. My heart skipped a beat at the wink.

"I'm sorry, Zack." I whispered. I went to sit on the stairs leading to the Sky Deck. "I'm so sorry for today…"

"What do you mean?" He asked me. He took a seat next to me and fell directly into my trap. I knew how I would test if he was ready to hear my confession. If he didn't scoot away now, I would tell him how I felt.

"I'm sorry for agreeing to go on a date with Tripp even though I know how you felt about me," I leaned my head on his shoulder and held my breath. "I'm sorry for not telling you what I should have told you when you first told me how you felt."

He didn't shrug me off. Instead he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me even closer into him. He rested his chin on my head.

"Is this okay?" He sounded so insecure I felt a sharp arrow of pain going through my heart. I couldn't help but feel responsible for this display of insecurity by Zack Martin.

I nodded. "Better than okay." I wrapped my arms around his torso.

"What should you have told me when I first told you I liked you?" he asked quietly.

"First another question." He looked me in the eyes in question. "Do you still like me? Even after what happened today?" Now it was my time to sound insecure. Vulnerable even.

"Of course I still like you… I'm afraid you're stuck with me, Maya. I don't think these feelings are of a transitory nature… I just hope this doesn't make you uncomfortable…"

I shook my head quickly. "Of course not. Zack, that's what I should've told you. I do like you. As more than a friend. I should have said 'yes' to one of your date proposals a long time ago. I should've said yes after we surfaced with London's shoe submarine… Zack, I should have told you I'm falling for you… And I'm warning you, I'm falling fast." The vulnerability in my voice was even more prominent now.

I shook in fear as I waited for his reaction.

"God, Maya," was the first thing to come out of his mouth. Followed by; "What you do to me…" I giggled.

He lifted my head from his chest and unwrapped my arms. He took a hold of my hands and looked me in the eyes.

"I want you to know something," he said. "I have fallen for you, Maya, I've fallen fast. But I wouldn't change it for the world. And I want you to know that I'm here to catch you. So you don't have to be afraid, okay?" The emotions swirling in his eyes were so clear I couldn't help myself.

I kissed him.

Full on the lips.

* * *

When I broke the kiss, Zack still had his eyes closed.

"Sorry…" I whispered. "I don't know what came over me. I'm so sorry…"

"Stop apologizing," Zack said gently. "I never want you to apologize for kissing me. Never. Just, next time, give me a heads up… That way I can reciprocate…" He grinned at me.

"Duty noted…" I joked. I looked him in the eyes. "Do you mind if we stay here for a moment? I don't want to leave just yet…"

"Whatever you want, Maya," he said and he kissed my nose in the sweetest of manners. "Just one last question; would you like to go out on a date with me? Later this week, perhaps?"

"You know what," I said. "I'll answer that question with another question; Zack Martin, do you want to be my boyfriend?"

Zack's mouth dropped open. "Too soon?" I asked carefully. He shook his head frantically.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" he cried out. "God! I thought we'd never get to that stage! Yes, I want to be your boyfriend! Dear Lord, I can't believe you beat me to it!"

I giggled at his elated face. He pressed his lips to my cheek.

* * *

"So beautiful girlfriend of mine, any reason why Tripp is glaring at me from down there?" Zack asked while nuzzling his nose into my hair. I sighed in contentment.

"I think it might have to do with the fact that I told him he was nowhere near the guy I wanted to be with… So he called me a bitch. And he said Tiffany is way hotter than I am… And now Tiffany is flirting with some other guy while I'm in the arms of my amazingly hot boyfriend…" I flirted. I pressed another kiss to the column of his throat.

"He said that?" He practically growled. "Does that guy not have eyes in his head?!"

I shrugged. "It doesn't matter all that much, Zack. I mean, he's some wanna be-rock star with no life whereas you're a funny, talented, sporty hotshot… Looking the way you do tonight, you look like you've just run out of a Dior-commercial…"

"Ah, thanks babe," He kissed the top of my head. I swear I'd never get tired of his kisses.

"But still," he said while glaring at the tiny figure down on the Sky Deck. "You should know this, Maya, and don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise: you're beautiful, Maya. And no one, I repeat _no one_, has the rights to tell you you're not, okay?"

I was touched by such heartfelt words. "Thanks, baby. That was the most amazing thing anyone has ever said to me."

"Amazing enough to deserve a kiss?" he asked. I pretended to think about that.

"Of course!" I giggled and I turned my head up to his. I stared up in those blue-grey-greenish eyes he shared with his twin. He stared right back.

"I really, really like you Maya. You absolutely have no idea what sort of feelings you're evoking in me…" Zack whispered.

Not once did his eyes stray to my lips, he kept looking me straight in the eyes.

"Same here, Zack. What I feel for you… I can't describe it. I just know I'm scared of the intensity…" the vulnerable tone was back. The next six words coming out of my mouth surprised both of us.

"Please don't break my heart, Zack…"

"Never. I'm pretty sure I'm physically unable to." He had never looked so serious.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

I could taste both our salty tears in our sweetest, most intense kiss yet.

* * *

By the time Zack and I joined our friends, our lips were swollen and our hair more than a little messed up. They all looked knowingly at us.

"May I present," Zack said. "My girlfriend: Maya Bennett."

London, Addison and Bailey shrieked in happiness and Woody and Cody clapped Zack on the shoulder.

"Congrats, bro," I heard Cody say. "You won her over. Don't go breaking her heart, now!"

"Yeah," Woody interjected. "Because I'm pretty sure Addison will introduce you to her mean right hook if you do!" His cheek still showed a hint of the purple bruise he had gotten when he had boxing with Addison last week.

I grinned at them. I hadn't let go of Zack's hand.

"Rule no. 6?" London asked.

"How do you know she has a Rule for us?" Bailey asked amazed.

"The smile on her face. The happiness radiating from her every pore. She can't not have a Rule." London smirked.

"I'll go get our book!" Addison said and she darted away. I sighed in happiness.

When Addison came back with the book, I tried letting go of Zack's hand so I could join my friends.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"We're going to write down another Rule…" I explained. "I need to go sit with them."

"One minute, gorgeous," he winked. "Cody, Woody, move those butts over here. My _girlfriend_ wants to sit with your girlfriends and I don't want to let go off her."

I shook my head at the antics of my boyfriend. Nevertheless, I was touched.

"Oh, yuck!" London said. "It's bad enough Cody and Bailey can't keep their hands off of each other! Do you guys really have to be attached at the hip, too?!"

Though she was making funny faces, I could see she was really happy for me and Zack.

"Absolutely!" Zack said. "Maya is my reason for existence now! She's my own personal sun. And who can survive without the sun…?

"That's right," Zack answered his own question. "No one."

Meanwhile, Cody had taken a seat on the arm of Bailey's chair and Woody had taken a seat next to Addison. He was holding her hand.

There was only seat left and when I went to grab another one, Zack rolled his eyes at me.

"What?" I asked him. He didn't say anything, he just grabbed me around my waist and pulled me onto his lap.

"That's your seat for the rest of the evening, babe, no objections." He said and he kissed my cheek. I blushed.

"How about that sixth Rule?" Bailey asked. "Addison?"

"Ready. I've filled out the date. I'm just waiting for the Rule and the story to go along with it."

"Maya?" London asked me.

"**The No. 6 Rule of a Suite Life Lady: You're beautiful and no one has the rights to tell you you're not. –Zack Martin**" I answered.

"That's beautiful, Zack." Bailey said. He shrugged it off.

"I got inspired…" Was the only thing he said as he looked at me.

The seven of us spent the rest of the evening together at that table enjoying snacks, drinks, the music and each other's company.

* * *

Note **1** from the author : Hey all! Chapter 6 is done! I thinks it's one of the longest I've written so far. Care to leave a review and tell me what you thought?! I hope you do! Don't forget: If you got any ideas for the next chapter, just leave them behind! –RPL

**Note 2 from the author :**** Hey Actsingdance23! What did you think? I really hope this chapter is what you wanted… Thanks for your review!**

* * *

**The No. 7 Rule of a (Suite Life) Lady: Don't fall for a guy who isn't willing to catch you.**


	7. Rule No 7: Don't Fall For A Guy

**Rules of Suite Life Ladies**

Note from the author : Hey all! I'm so sorry you had to wait so long for this seventh chapter! My heart broke when I read the review Pianoisthebest left me! I'm so sorry! But, to make it up to you guys I've written the seventh chapter and I centered it around London, like many of you asked! I do hope you'll accept my apologies and that you won't hold it against me! If it helps, I'm writing this chapter on my terrace, the sun is shining really bright, temperature is going up to 25°C and I'm sure to be burnt by the end of it! Anyway, enjoy the chapter and once more, I'm sorry! –RPL

Disclaimer : I don't own the Suite Life On Deck. Disney does!

In this chapter : Remember Luca, the busker London met in Rome? Well, this story takes place once London and Bailey get back on the boat! I know, I know, Maya and Addison hadn't been introduced to the public back then, but stick with me?!

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**The No. 7 Rule of a Suite Life Lady :  
Don't fall for a guy who isn't willing to catch you**

LONDON POV:

I had just gotten Bailey to leave as I heard a by now really familiar voice calling my name. A smile made its appearance on my face and I turned towards Luca.

"_London!_" He said. He seemed really happy to see me, which made my heart skip several beats. I hadn't felt like this ever since Marcus left the ship.

"_Luca,"_ I said. I hugged him hello. "_Oh, I'm so happy to see you."_ And I was.

"_London,_" Luca started. He appeared to be a little distressed. "_I have terrible news…"_

I gasped. "_You don't like my new eye make-up?_" It was the only thing I had changed since I had last seen him, so it seemed fitting that would be a possible reason why he brought bad news.

"_No, my uncle is very angry…"_ Luca actually rolled his eyes at what I had said.

"_Because of my new eye make-up?_" I realized I sounded a bit dense, but I couldn't help it. I really did not understand what the terrible news could be.

"_No! Oh, forget the eye make-up!_" I was a little shocked at his outburst. "_My uncle has disowned me!_" My hand flew over my mouth in shock.

"_Oh, Luca, I'm so sorry! This is all my fault!_" I reacted. And I really did feel like this was all my fault. If he hadn't been so keen on spending time with me, his uncle would've never taken away his future.

"_No, no," _he tried reassuring me. "_I'll be fine. Instead of going to Julliard, I can get a job scooping cheese at 'Pizza and a Cone'…_"

I could see how much it hurt him to have his dream taken away and I tried thinking of a solution. Suddenly, a metaphoric light bulb lit up in my head. I had an idea.

"_Let me pay for music school." _I offered.

"_No,_" he said. "_I cannot allow that._"

"_Please, I insist…_" I tried again.

"_No, I could never…"_ he said walking away from me a little.

"_I want to…_" I assured him.

"_Okay,_" he said suddenly.

_Huh, _I thought. _That didn't take as long as I thought it would._

"_But only as a loan,_" Luca continued. "_And I will pay you back…_"

"_Don't worry about it,_" I said. "_Here's 20,000 dollars…_" I thrust him the bundle of dollar bills in his hands.

"_You carry 20,000 dollars in your purse?_" he asked amazed.

"_Hey!_" I said. "_It's a small purse!_" I didn't see the big deal.

"_London,_" Luca said. He sounded really thankful. "_Grazie mille…_ _You're the best thing that has ever happened to me…_"

I blushed at his compliment and tried hiding it by hugging him once more. He didn't seem to mind.

"_I'll take this money to the bank…_" Suddenly, it looked like he was in a rush to get away from me. I didn't understand.

"_When will I see you again?_" I asked. I really liked spending time with him.

"_I'll meet you back here in an hour for dinner._" He said smiling.

"_Perfect,_" I said. "_Gives me enough time to change my eye make-up!"_ I threw in a flirty laugh and we gave each other the customary two kisses before I waved goodbye.

Little did I know, Luca's uncle Marco was standing in the shadows watching our money-exchange…

* * *

When I got to my cabin, I took a seat at my vanity table and started getting the necessary things to change my eye make-up. Only I was interrupted before I got the chance to start.

Bailey threw open the door. I rolled my eyes at the interruption.

"Where are Maya and Addison?" I asked uninterested.

"Why do you ask?" Bailey replied with one eyebrow raised.

"Because you've got your 'we need to talk'-face on and you never wear that face unless Maya and Addison are present." I said while searching for some cotton-balls.

"They're roaming Rome…" Bailey started.

"That must've been one of the worst puns I've ever heard…" I interrupted her. She grinned and we both said 'Zack' at the same time. We giggled.

"Anyway, they're wandering around Rome and I figured I'd use this opportunity to tell you this in private." She said seriously.

"What's going on, Bailey?" I asked. She was starting to scare me.

"_London, we need to talk,_" she started. "_It's not easy for me to say and it won't be easy for you to hear…_"

I held up my hand. "_It's about my eye make-up, isn't it? I'm about to change it…_" I joked.

"_No,_" she said. "_It's about Luca…"_

My interest was piqued. Hey, you can't blame me! I haven't felt like this in a long time and now my best friend's here telling me she's got some bad news about the guy I like.

"_He doesn't really like you,_" she started carefully. "_He just likes your money…_"

I refused to believe that was true. After all, he was the first guy ever to pretend he hadn't forgotten his wallet on our date. She couldn't be telling the truth… Could she?

"_Oh Bailey,_" I said getting up and taking a step closer to her. I rested my hand on her shoulder in a sign of sympathy. "_Poor, jealous, badly-dressed Bailey…"_

"_I'm not jealous!_" she cried out. "_It's true. I overheard Luca talking with his uncle… They're conmen and you're the mark!_"

"_No Bailey,_" I said exasperated. We had known each other for almost 3 years now, and she still didn't know my name was London?! Some kind of friend she was!

"_I'm the London…_" I said it as if I was explaining something really simple to a three year-old.

"_You're not listening,_" she said shaking her head. "_He took your money and now he's gone! You're never going to see him again…_"

I really did not want to believe her. Then again, I was really starting to doubt if she was jealous, like I had said. After all, she was with Cody and she knew how hurt I was when Marcus left. She would never do that to me on purpose. Suddenly, I remembered the promise Luca had made me.

"_Yes, I am._" I said. _"He's crazy about me! I'm getting ready for my date with him, right now!_"

She started sputtering and obviously she was getting ready to convince me otherwise. Once more, I held up a hand to silence her.

"_Bailey, stay out of my love life! I know what I'm doing!"_ I grabbed a towel that was hanging over one of our desk chairs and went to head out.

"_If you'll excuse me, I need to go freshen up!_" I threw open our cabin door and realized I was out on the hallway.

"_Wrong door…_" I said a little embarrassed and then entered our shared bathroom.

_This is going to be a great afternoon…_ I thought excitedly as I got my shower running.

* * *

55 minutes later, I got to the place where Luca and I had agreed to meet. I started looking out for him.

10 minutes later, he still hadn't arrived, but I shrugged it off. Everyone could be a bit too late every once in a while.

After a full hour had passed, Luca still was nowhere to be found and I started getting a little worried.

_His uncle wouldn't hurt him, would he? If he found out Luca and I were going to go on a date? No way, the man didn't seem to be such a monster!_

I checked my phone for the hundredth time already and still there was no message.

After another hour, I started to get annoyed. I decided to give Luca an extra 10 minutes and then I would head back to the ship. Maya and Addison had texted me they were meeting up for dinner and invited me to join them.

Ten minutes later, I texted them that I would indeed join them and left the square in tears. My still fragile-from-the-last-time heart broken in a million pieces.

* * *

When I joined Maya and Addison in the restaurant where we had agreed to meet, they were already munching on some delicious-looking pizza.

I plunked myself down across from Addison and next to Maya. Addison greeted me chipper as always, while Maya just smiled through her mouthful of pizza Hawaii.

"What's up?" Maya asked as soon as she had swallowed her bite. "Met any cute Italian guys today?"

I winced at the memory of Luca and Maya noticed the hurt flashing across my face.

"And that would be my foot in my mouth for today…" Maya muttered. "What happened, London?" she asked concerned.

I waved a waiter over and ordered a dish of pasta. He walked away after my order and I turned back to my friends.

"I was shopping with Bailey and we met this busker on the streets. He was cute, talented and interested in me. We started hanging out though the guy, Luca's, uncle forbid it. When I met Luca for lunch, he told me his uncle had disowned me and therefore he couldn't go to Julliard. I offered to pay for music school and he agreed to a loan. We agreed to meet up for lunch after he brought the money to the bank an hour later, but three hours later he still wasn't there… I guess Bailey was right… He was a conman and I will never see him again…" I blurted out the story.

"I'm so sorry," Addison said. "You really did like this guy, huh? My mom was right, Italian boys are playboys! When I tell her this, one thing's for sure, I'll get a big, fat 'I told you so' !"

Maya and I giggled at Addison's impression of her mother. We had met the woman when we visited Addison over Summer Break and while she was really friendly and sweet, she made Addison go crazy with her over protectiveness and her tendency to be really pedantic.

"It's just…" I started to say. "This was the first guy since… since M-M… _him_ to make me feel **something** and now it looks like he's been playing me from the beginning… Guess I should know better than to fall for a guy who wasn't willing to catch me…" I shrugged. The tears had ceased and I put up a front of indifference.

"Hey!" Addison cried out. "Say that again?"

"What?"

"The part where you said something about not falling for a guy…"

"You mean; 'Don't fall for a guy who isn't willing to catch you' ?" I asked her. "What about it?"

"That could be our seventh Rule…" Maya grinned. "It's perfect."

"I'll go get the notebook!" Addison said and she started getting up.

"Addison, Bailey's not on the ship! We can't write down the seventh Rule without her! Besides, why don't we finish our meal first and then write the Rule down over some ice cream?"

"I'd like that…" I smiled. "I'll text Bailey with the deeds."

I took out my phone and typed: '**Seventh Rule found. Going to write it down over dessert. When R U back on the ship? –L**' and I pressed 'send'.

5 minutes later, I felt my phone vibrating and I checked the message. '**I'll be there. 9 PM, our cabin. –B**'

* * *

When 9 PM rolled around, the four of us sat down in my cabin and the notebook was spread out in front of us.

"London, do the honors…" Maya said.

"Date?" I asked.

"19th of December…" Addison replied.

"Place?"

"Rome." Bailey answered.

"Rule?"

"**The No. 7 Rule of a Suite Life Lady: Don't fall for a guy who isn't willing to catch you**…" Maya said.

"Story?" I asked but I answered the question myself. "London falls for an Italian conman who pretended to be a busker and conned 20,000 dollars out of her. Made her wait three hours for their date…" Bailey rubbed my back in consoling circles.

Addison shut the notebook. "The seventh Rule has been written down, let's celebrate like real women…" she declared.

We all lifted our eyebrows. "What do you mean 'celebrate like real women'?" Maya asked.

"Ice cream, duh!" Addison giggled and we all grabbed our favorite container.

"Thanks guys," I said. "I really don't know what I'd do without you…"

"Same here…" Maya said. Bailey and Addison nodded in agreement.

"Let's enjoy the rest of our evening, shall we?" Bailey offered. "I've plundered the video store and I brought twenty some movies with me… Who's up for 'Grease' ?" she asked.

We vehemently shook our heads in disagreement and she put the DVD aside.

"Dirty Dancing?" she asked. We shook our heads once more.

"What about 'The Notebook'?" she proposed. We nodded.

"Sure! It's been a long time since I've seen that one…" Addison shrugged.

We watched 'The Notebook' that night and drooled over Ryan Gosling and we were secretly a little jealous of the love Noah and Allie shared…

_How great would it be to find your perfect someone ?_

* * *

Note from the author : Here it is! The seventh chapter! I hope you've enjoyed it ?! Stay tuned for the eighth one! As always, the next Rule is included below; feel free to leave me a review with your ideas! –RPL

**The No. 8 Rule of a (Suite Life) Lady : Embrace your flaws and be true to who you really are.**


	8. Rule No 8: Embrace your flaws

**Rules of Suite Life Ladies**

Note from the author : Hey all! The eighth chapter is here! I've written it in Addison's POV because I really think this Rule fits her! Let me know if you disagree? Anyway, as always, thanks to those who have read and reviewed the story and I hope you'll continue to do so. Little PS; I've started on Rules of Suite Life Gentlemen, but it might take some time before the first chapter is uploaded. Review please?! –RPL

Disclaimer : I don't own the Suite Life On Deck. Disney does.

Episode reference : 2x07, Goin' Bananas

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**The No. 8 Rule of a Suite Life Lady:  
Embrace your flaws and be true to who you really are**

Addison POV:

It had been a couple of weeks since I had discovered the world of 'Better Life' and I had loved every experience the game brought upon me. Not only had I made virtual friends from all over the world, but the game had also brought me and Woody closer together. In fact, today we went out on second public date.

Woody and I had been sitting on the Sky Deck, playing 'Better Life' and I had just gathered my courage and held his hand when suddenly, Mr. Blanket appeared out of nowhere. His hands full of ping pong balls.

"_Kapaaww!_" Blanket yelled out as he threw the balls all over our table. I shrieked, pulled my hand out of Woody's and jumped on my chair. My feet dangling above the floor.

"_That's the Blanket-method…_" I heard him clarify to Woody. Then he just walked away as if nothing had happened.

Woody shook his head questioning Blanket's sanity while I was still looking around in fear at the ping pong balls.

* * *

Woody looked back at me and he saw that I was still frozen in shock. He gently pried my hands off of the armrests of my chair and tried getting me to focus.

"Addison," he said. "Are you okay?"

"T-T-The balls…" I stuttered. "G-G-Get the b-b-balls away from me…"

Woody took one last look at the frightened look on my face and then got on his knees to gather all of Blanket's ping pong balls and gave them to some kids who were going up to the Sports Deck for a game. They smiled in gratitude at him and he shooed them away.

"They're gone…" He said gently as he took his seat next to me. I frantically looked around and saw that he was right.

"Thanks…" I whispered. "I'm so going to get that idiot back… I was doing so well and now I'm back to square 1."

Woody rubbed my back in consoling circles. Nevertheless, I could see the lost look on his face and in his eyes.

"You really have no clue about all of this, do you?" I smiled a watery smile at him. He shook his head with an apologetic look on his face.

"When I was 3 years old, my brother and I were playing a game of Ping-Pong and when the ball dropped off the table, my dog caught it and ran away with it. My brother and I laughed at our dog and his new toy and we continued playing our game. The next day, I woke up early and when I went over to play for a while with our dog, I found him dead in his basket. Apparently he had choked on the ball. I lost my best friend that day…"

"That's awful, Addison, especially for a three year-old, but… Is that really all there is to your phobia of ping pong balls?" Woody asked hesitantly. That guy could already read me like a book and it was only our second date.

"Not really… After the death of my dog, it took me a while to be ready and play another game. But by the time I turned six, I was ready to give it another try. It was my birthday party and I was playing a game with one of my cousins. Everything was going great, until we heard a weird noise coming from somewhere between us. We looked around, but couldn't find anything that could've caused such a noise. Until we heard my aunt yelling. Apparently, one of our balls had been blown off the table by the wind and my baby-cousin had found it. The odd gurgling sound was the baby who had managed to destroy the ball and he had put a piece in his mouth. The piece had gotten stuck and the child was choking. I… I just stood there… Watching… Frozen… There was nothing I could do…" By the time I finished the story I was crying and Woody had gotten us both up the stairs to a more private corner.

"Thanks…" I whispered through a watery smile.

"For what?" He said. He had lifted me and put me on sideways on his lap.

"For being a great boyfriend… For comforting me… For getting me away from the Sky Deck when I started crying… For taking the time to get to the bottom of my phobia…" I kissed his cheek in gratitude. He blushed.

"What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't do all of those things?" He smiled.

"A normal one?" I joked. He laughed alongside me.

"No, but seriously," I said. "Thanks. I know this is a bit weird, a phobia for ping pong balls, but I really can't help it. You're the only person I've told about the 'why' behind the fear and I'd really like to keep it that way…"

"I understand," he said softly rubbing my shoulders. "I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you," I said. I kissed his cheek in gratitude. "I know it's silly, I guess it's just one of my flaws that my boyfriend has to live with…"

"Addison, don't think like that. You should embrace your flaws. It's who you are. They make you the person I like. You should be true to who you really are. That's how you become happy… At least, that's what my mom says…"

"Your mom sounds like a really wise woman." I giggled. "Now, how about we go meet up with the others and play a little game of table football?"

"Lead the way, girlfriend of mine…" He joked as he offered me his arm. I looped mine through his and we set off for the Sky Deck.

* * *

As Woody and I came down the stairs, we could see Maya serving passengers their drinks and Zack standing behind the counter.

"What's up, Woodster?" Zack asked as we took a seat at the counter. Zack greeted me by a wink in my direction.

"Not much…" Woody shrugged. "But it's Friday… What are we going to do?"

Zack opened his mouth to suggest an activity, when Maya showed up behind the counter. Zack's arm immediately wrapped itself around her waist as if it was a reflex. Something he had no control over.

"How about we wait here for Bailey and Cody? Bailey texted me they're coming up right now…" Maya let her sentence trail of as we heard two familiar voices carrying a heated argument.

"All I'm saying is that when we invest more money in the educational system our whole society would run way more smoothly…" Cody was saying until Bailey oh so rudely interrupted him.

"And all I'm saying is that we should invest more money in the agriculture. We would create more jobs, there would be less hunger and then our society would run way easier…" Cody looked about ready to disagree with her and Zack decided to step in.

"As much as we like to see you guys arguing over America's future and your 'If I were the president'-fantasies; SHUT UP!" Bailey and Cody looked at him as if they had just realized he was there. That we were there.

"Oh, eurhm, sorry you guys. It's just… We just came from Political Science and we got a bit carried away…" Bailey explained.

"It sure looked that way…" I laughed. "Now, as we were saying before you barged in here arguing like an old married couple," Bailey and Cody looked a bit embarrassed at their behavior. "What are we doing tonight? It's a Friday, nobody has to work tomorrow morning: who's up for what?"

"Well, there's this big football match," Zack proposed. All three of us present girls groaned at that.

"They're showing 'The Lucky One' on the Sky Deck, tonight." Bailey voiced.

"Yeah, it's couple's night, right?" I asked. Maya nodded in response.

"No!" Zack and Woody yelled out.

"Why not?" The other four of us asked. "It's such a romantic movie… Lots of romance under the stars…"

"No!" Zack said.

"No way!" Woody said at the same time.

Maya and I looked at each other and then looked at Bailey and Cody. We all smirked.

"What's going on?" Zack asked in distrust. "I don't like the looks on your faces…"

"Neither do I." Woody said. "What you planning, Addison?"

"Well…"

I guess it's needless to say that between my whining and Maya's seducing, Zack and Woody were able to be persuaded into joining us for Couples' Night and watching the 'Lucky One'…

* * *

Maya, Bailey and I were walking back to Bailey's cabin when I realized London had been MIA the whole evening.

"Hey, girls," I asked. "Where's London at? I haven't seen her all day?!"

The both of them looked at each other – clearly they hadn't noticed London's absence either.

"We're the worst friends ever…" Maya whispered. Bailey nodded in agreement.

"Hey everyone!" We suddenly heard a chipper voice coming from inside our cabin.

"London!" We yelled together as Bailey threw open the door. Funny thing is; we saw London nowhere.

"Here I am!" London's disembodied voice sounded annoyed. "Lord, you guys must've been a real nightmare to play Hide&Seek with… Or maybe you were a dream come true?" London sounded confused.

"It's coming from the laptop!" I said. I quickly pulled up a chair and planted myself in front of the computer.

"Well, well, well," London's voice had a sarcastic edge to it. "Looks like we have a winner!"

The three of us appeared in front of the screen and stuck our tongues out. London giggled.

"Hey London! Where have you been all day?" Bailey had always been the one person who let London's teasing go by the easiest.

"Well, I'm not on the ship! And I'm pretty sure I've forgotten to tell you, but seeing as I haven't received one scared text asking me about my whereabouts I figured the guys were entertaining you!"

We all looked guiltily at her. "Sorry!" We mumbled together.

"Don't be!" She didn't sound upset in the slightest. "I'm at my aunt's wedding in Thailand and I got to go shopping today and I'm released from school duties until Monday! Nothing could ruin my mood! Now what's up on the floating jail?"

"Not much…" I shrugged. The others nodded in agreement.

"We did go see 'The Lucky One' with the guys, but other than that… Not much…" Bailey said.

I yawned. "What time is it there?" London asked looking at my tired expression.

"A little past one… AM…" Maya answered. She rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes.

"You guys should get some sleep…" London said. "I'll see you on Monday… I will go do some late night shopping and I'll request another video-chat when it's an acceptable hour…" She waved her goodbyes and looked about ready to close up.

"Hey, London, wait!" Bailey said. "How did you know we would be here?"

London shrugged. "I've been trying to contact you three for the whole evening, this was the last try… Otherwise I would've talked to you girls in the morning… Anyway, time for bed ! I'll talk to you when it's around 2 PM over there… Okay?"

We smiled through our yawns and waved goodbye. I closed the laptop and turned towards my friends.

* * *

"Well, I should get going," Bailey said. "I've got an early tutoring session in the morning and a date with Cody in the afternoon! Sleep tight!"

She left the cabin and waved while doing so. "Goodnight!" We called as Maya and I slipped on our pajama's and got in our beds.

"Sweet dreams…" Maya mumbled as she turned on her side and faced the other side.

"Sweet dreams…" I whispered as I turned off our bedside lamp and rolled over onto my back.

In a matter of minutes we had both gone off to the land of dreams…

* * *

When our alarm clock woke us up, I immediately sprang out of bed. In a matter of 30 minutes, I had showered, brushed my teeth and gotten dressed. Maya was still soundly asleep.

_Wow…_ I thought to myself. _How is it that I can still be surprised by that girl's sleeping habits after nearly two years of rooming together?_

"Maya!" I said. The only thing the other girl did was huff in her sleep. And maybe she turned over on her other side.

"Maya! Get up!" I yelled. Suddenly I got a very devious idea. I knew she wouldn't like me all that much afterwards, but at least she'd awake.

"Maya! Get up! Bailey just texted me Zack's kissing Janice! Those blond nitwits arrived last night! The action's going on in the hall! Right now!"

As was to expect, Maya jumped out of bed and stormed out into the hallway in her ratty old shorts and loose sweatshirt she had worn to bed.

"Where's that airhead?!" She roared. "Has she still not gotten the message?! And FYI, I'm pretty sure Janice kissed Zack! And she'll regret it!"

Several other girls had been woken up by Maya's fury and were curiously peering out of their cabins to see what had caused the ruckus.

"What?!" Maya snapped at them. Shocked, all of them quickly slammed their doors shut.

"Eurhm, Maya, dear," we suddenly heard a voice say. "Where are you standing out in the hallway in your PJ's? Not that I don't enjoy the view, but any particular reason for this unexpected attire?"

"You!" Maya cried while pointing at Zack. "Where's that blond groupie of yours?"

Zack looked confused and I decided to intervene before she killed him.

"Maya?" She turned around and the fire in her eyes was directed at me. "We're in the middle of the ocean, Janice couldn't have arrived last night. Therefore, she can't have kissed Zack…"

"What?" Maya said. "Why would you say such a thing?!"

"Because you wouldn't get up!" I cried in frustration.

"I'll see you two at breakfast…" Zack mumbled. He quickly kissed Maya's cheek and ran for safer places.

"Maybe that's because _you_ kept talking in your sleep!" Maya yelled back.

"Really?" I suddenly said curiously. "What did I say?"

"Something about being true to who you really are and embracing your flaws… It made no sense…" Clearly our argument was already forgotten. "What did it mean?"

I shrugged. "Probably something Woody said last night. I told him about my phobia and he tried to make me feel better."

"You know, it could make an awesome eighth Rule…" Maya waggled her eyebrows. "Race you to the bathroom! Last one will have to take a cold shower! And text the others!" Maya dashed into our cabin and quickly grabbed a clean towel. My clean towel to be exact.

I shook my head at my friend and grabbed her cell.

'_**Eighth Rule has been found. U wanna help write it down? –A&M**_**' **I sent the text to Bailey and opened a new screen to text London.

'_**We thought of an eighth Rule. U able to be on Skype?'**_ I hit 'send' and took out my clothes for today and searching for our notebook, knowing that my friends would jump at an eighth Rule. It had been way too long since the seventh one.

* * *

An hour later Bailey, Maya and I sat in Bailey's cabin on the beds with the laptop at the end. We were waiting for London. She was 3 minutes late.

"Hi!" She enthusiastically waved. "I'm about to board the plane and I'll be on the boat late tonight, okay?!"

We all waved back and told her we couldn't wait for her to be back.

"Now what's this about an eighth Rule?" Bailey yawned. Clearly she didn't go right to bed after 'The Lucky One'. _Wink, wink…_

"Addison kept me up all night," Maya sent an annoyed glare my way and I stuck my tongue out. "Mumbling something about embracing one's flaws and being true to who you really are. We thought it would make a nice Rule…"

"How did you come up with it?" London asked. We could see her sitting at the airport waiting for her flight to be called.

"Woody tried making me feel better after I told him about my phobia…" I shrugged. "Everyone okay with the eighth Rule?"

They all nodded and I got the notebook out. "Date?" London asked.

"5th of January…" Maya replied.

"Rule?"

"**The No. 8 Rule of a Suite Life Lady: Embrace your flaws and be true to who you really are.** **–Woody Fink.**" I said out loud while writing the Rule down.

"Story?"

"Addison suffers from a phobia. Woody consoles her." Bailey said. I wrote it down and then slammed the notebook shut with lots of dramatics.

Suddenly we heard an intercom saying something. We couldn't understand it and figured it must've been coming from London's end.

"That's me." London affirmed. "I'll see you guys in the morning!" She blew us a kiss and waved as she logged off.

"Bye!" We said together.

"Anyone up for breakfast?" Maya suddenly asked when we heard her stomach rumble.

We laughed at the funny sound it made and nodded our heads. "Sure."

* * *

Note from the author : Hey guys! I'm so sorry it took so long to write down and upload this chapter! But in my defense, I've been really busy with my parents' divorce, babysitting my neighbor, working on 'Rules of Suite Life Gentlemen' (The first chapter could be up today. However, I've started with the Fifth Rule as per request by **Actsingdance23**. Hope you'll like it!) and cleaning my bedroom! Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed the chapter and you'll leave me a review saying what you thought! –RPL

**The No. 9 Rule of a (Suite Life) Lady :**** Never lose faith in finding your perfect someone.**


	9. Rule No 9: Never Lose Faith

**Rules of Suite Life Ladies**

Note from the author : Hey all! Here's the ninth chapter of 'Rules of Suite Life Ladies'. I hope you're still enjoying them? I know I haven't been uploading as fast as I used to, but here in Belgium we've had the pleasure of an amazing summer so far and I couldn't help myself: I just had to soak up some of that rare summer heat ;) However, my conscience kicked in and I sat myself down to write you guys a few more chapters. Please keep reading and reviewing! It makes my day. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy! –RPL

Disclaimer : Same as always: I don't own the Suite Life On Deck. I celebrated my birthday yesterday (7/25) and since none of my presents contained the rights to the best Disney show ever, I guess it's still Disney-property. Alas…

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**The No. 9 Rule of a Suite Life Lady :  
Never lose faith in finding your perfect someone**

LONDON POV :

"_Oh, London, you should come down here as fast as you can! It's amazing!_" The voice on the other side said. God, how I had missed that deep rumble. "_I know you'd love it here! Maybe you could bring the others along to see one of the shows? We're working on a sequel. Maybe you guys could give your input… You're docking pretty soon, huh?_"

I nodded. "Yeah." My voice cracked as it was laced with tears. "Tomorrow evening, around 7 PM…"

"_I'll pick you guys up… My show doesn't start until 9:30 PM… You okay with that?_" He asked. He actually looked a little afraid of my answer. As if I would deny myself any time with this man.

"I'd like that…" I smiled gently. "I think we'd all like that very much… Everyone has missed you like crazy. Zack has been wondering if you had forgotten about us."

He sighed. "_I know I haven't been all that much in touch lately… It's just… Everything has been a little crazy lately. I'm performing the show, we're all working on the sequel, my manager has been talking to some record labels to see if they're interested in producing the soundtrack, I'm being interviewed several hours a day, six days a week… Frankly, I'm exhausted._"

"Don't worry about it… We know how hectic your life has been. We just missed our friend and we've all been dying to spend some time with you…"

"_Believe me when I say I know how you've been feeling. I've missed you and the guys too._" I could see the longing in his eyes. The longing to see his friends and to escape the madness for a few hours._ "So, I guess it's settled then? I am going to pick you and all of our friends up from the…" _He was saying when he got interrupted.

"_Marcus!" _I suddenly heard a booming voice in the background. _"Marcus!_"

Even though the voice sounded a little intimidating and most certainly angry, I couldn't help the tingles that ran down my spine when I heard the name of the man I loved.

"_Sorry…_" He smiled at me in a way of apologizing as he turned around in his desk chair. "_What is it, Ennis? I'm kind of in the middle of something…_"

"_Guess you'll have to kind of get out of that certain something."_ The voice interrupted. The body belonging to the voice was that of a man consisting of pure muscle. He was downright frightening._ "The show for tomorrow is cancelled. It's been pushed back to next week. Tonight we're leaving for Washington… There's this new theatre that's going to be opened tomorrow evening by Mrs. Obama herself and your hip-hoppera is going to be the opening act. You have to start packing. The cab will be here in a hour."_

"_I'll be ready…_" Marcus sighed. "_Give me five more minutes to finish this up…_"

The man in the background, Ennis, gave him a curt nod and left the room. Marcus turned back to me.

"_I'm sorry about him._" Marcus smiled. "_He's my assistant. It's his job to make sure I'm where I have to be at the right time. He's a bit scary, but he certainly has the heart in the right place. He's just a little stressed out."_

"That's okay," I said. "So I guess you picking us up from the port won't be happening then?" I couldn't hide the disappointment I felt coursing through my body. Nor could I hide its display on my face.

"_I'm sorry, London… I should've checked my calendar first before I gave you hope… I don't want to sound conceited, but if you've been wanting to spend half as much time with me as I've been wanting to spend with you, than this must be quite the blow…_"

"Don't worry about it, there'll be other times we can meet up… Go pack! I'll see you soon!_"_ I waved and quickly logged off. I didn't even give him the time to say his goodbyes. It might seem selfish, but I really didn't want him to see my tears and I didn't think I could hold them in any longer.

"I miss you…" I whispered at the picture on my screensaver. It was one of me and Marcus the night I had told him how I felt.

"I honest to God miss you so much…" I whispered as I stroked his face. "And I don't think you miss me as much…"

Little did I know that somewhere in a hotel room, Marcus Little was stroking my face and whispering "_God, I miss you, baby. I love you so much and I wish I could have both of my loves here… Music… performing… And you…_"

* * *

Wiping the tears from my face, I quickly freshened up in mine and Bailey's bathroom. I splashed some cold water on my face, reapplied my makeup and looked at myself in the mirror above our sink.

"You are not going to mope!" I spoke firmly. "You're London Tipton and you do not mope. You're going to go up to the Sky Deck and hang out with your friends. Just because Marcus isn't here right now, doesn't mean you'll never see him again. He's just busy." I nodded curtly and left the bathroom and our cabin.

All the way up to the Sky Deck I kept repeating my little speech to myself. By the time I reached my destination a smile had taken the frown's place on my face and I quickly scanned the deck for any of my friends. I saw Maya making some smoothies for the few passengers left on the deck and made my way over to the counter.

"Hey, Maya." I smiled at my best friend. "Where's the boyfriend?"

She smiled while putting some kiwi slices in the blender. "In detention," she grinned. No, she didn't grin. She smirked. And that didn't go unnoticed by me.

"You wouldn't happen to have something to do with that, would you?" I smiled.

"Maybe…" Maya replied vaguely. I didn't however miss that semi-innocent shrug of hers which usually implied that she was indeed up to no good.

"You and Zack are so made for each other…" I mumbled under my breath. "What happened? What did you do?"

"Nothing serious," She replied. "It's not my fault Zack has troubles controlling his hormones around me…"

Becky Muldoon and Bailey passed by the counter babbling about something called the 'French Revolution' and as soon as both spotted Maya, an enormous grin spread over their faces. Becky even raised her hand in a high-five.

"Nicely done, Bennett!" She grinned. "You are officially my role model."

"I second that!" Bailey laughed and she gave Maya a proud smile.

"Hello!" I spoke up. "Heiress left in the dark here! What happened?"

"You haven't told her?" Bailey asked in amazement. Maya shook her head. As did I.

"Addison missed it, too. I thought I'd tell them together." Maya shrugged while serving another passenger their drink.

"Listen, girls," Becky said. "As much as I'd like to relive the moment, I got wrestling practice. I'm going to crush that Winston-punk!" The aggressiveness oozed from every single one of Becky's pores and we quickly wished her luck. And secretly prayed for this Winston-kid's safety.

"What did Addison miss?" We all of a sudden heard a chipper voice say behind us. Sure enough, there stood Addison with all of her school stuff still in her hands.

"Apparently Maya's pulled a prank on Zack that got him landed in detention, but since you and I both missed it, they're going to explain what happened right now," I glared at Maya and Bailey. "Weren't you?"

They both quickly nodded their heads. "Sure thing. Do you want a smoothie first?"

We nodded and pretty soon 4 Banana Fofana's were served and Maya had signaled the other barman she was going to take a break. He nodded in agreement and we went over to some unoccupied deckchairs hidden in the most secluded corner of the Sky Deck.

"Now, what happened?" Addison looked just as eager as I did to find out.

"Well, you know Zack's been having a little bit of trouble controlling his emotions around me," Maya started.

"Not to mention his hormones…" Bailey snickered. Maya smirked at that.

"Shush," Addison hissed. "I want to hear the story." I nodded in agreement.

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," Maya threw a mock-glare in Bailey's direction who in turn held up her hands in surrender. "Zack has some problems controlling his emotions around me. Though, now that I think about it," Maya said with a pensive look on her face. "I could be the hormones. Yes, let's go with hormones.

"Today, Zack and I and a whole bunch of our other classmates were being lectured about human sexuality in Biology. You know," she explained when she saw the confused look on my face. "The birds and the bees…" Suddenly, I could see where this story was going and I didn't feel like hearing the rest of it.

"So Miss Tutweiller is blabbing about the different parts of the male and female anatomy and at a certain point she's supposed to explain the technical part of it. You know Miss T., she wasn't exactly thrilled." We all laughed at that. "But she tries and as she turns her back on the class, I quickly gather my stuff and take the empty seat behind Zack." Her devilish smirk didn't go unnoticed by either one of us three.

"Without going into further details, I was close enough to whisper in his ear and trail my foot up and down his calves. His hormones went haywire, he started making sounds that are apparently 'inappropriate' and as he could barely utter a coherent sentence, let alone explain that his girlfriend was driving him up the wall with sexual longing, he got sent to detention. Without a cold shower."

"That's cruel." Addison said laughing. I nodded in agreement.

"Why would you do that?" I asked while taking a sip from my drink. "I mean, you said it yourself, you're his girlfriend. Why would you make him suffer like that?"

"Let's just say, back in NYC, I'm known for my ways of revenge. Not many people would think of crossing me, let alone severely pissing me off. Zack however, thought it would be fun to mess with my head."

Addison and I looked at her for further explanations, but were left hanging. We turned to Bailey.

"Basically, Zack seduced Maya in the library with a full-on make-out session and once she gets really into it, he leaves her hanging since he had a shift at the juice bar."

"Oh…" Was all that Addison and I had left to say.

"MAYA ELIZABETH BENNETT!" We suddenly heard a familiar voice roar. I swear, he wasn't yelling nor was he screaming, he was full on roaring. The few passengers that were still lingering on the deck looked annoyed at the disturbance, but once they saw Zack's furious face quickly searched for safer places.

"That's our cue…" Bailey said. Addison and I quickly stood up and started our escape. Better to be safe than sorry. Nevertheless, we weren't quick enough.

Zack made his appearance and was closely followed by Cody and Woody who made their way over to Bailey and Addison. Zack, however, walked over to Maya, who stood smirking behind the counter.

"Yes, honey?" She said with a sugary voice. She twirled a pluck of brown curly hair around her fingers. "Something the matter?"

_Oh, Maya,_ I thought. _You're treading on thin ice here, sweetie…_

"Oh, I think you know what's the matter, _dear_," Zack hissed. "You got me in detention, _sweetie_, you used your evil girlfriend-powers to get back at me!"

While Maya and Zack were bickering in the background, I turned around to Cody and Woody.

"What are you two doing here?" I asked curious.

"Protecting our girls…" Woody shrugged. "We saw the mood Zack was in when he left detention and we wanted to make sure you survived."

"My hero." Addison giggled as she kissed his cheek. He smiled at her.

"What do you think will happen?" Bailey asked Cody. He had taken a seat on the deckchair I had previously occupied and pulled Bailey on his lap.

He shrugged. "They'll argue for a little, engage in a battle of wits maybe, and then he'll chase her around the ship. She'll be too quick for him, but he knows the ship better. He'll lure her into a trap, Addison will have her cabin to herself tonight and tomorrow morning we won't see both of them until at least 2 PM and Zack's cabin door will be locked."

"Eww," I gagged. "Party foul on the mental image…"

"It's true," Woody agreed. "Last time Maya pulled a stunt like this, Cody and I had to plug in our iPods and pull the pillows over our heads. Safe to say, neither one of us got much sleep that night."

"Neither did Maya for that matter…" Cody snickered. Bailey wacked him over the head.

"That's your brother and our best friend you're talking about…" She said while he looked at her in shock.

"Yeah, we really don't want to know that…" Addison shuddered.

"And the chase has begun…" Woody reported. "10 dollars say she outruns him for at least an hour…"

"You're on." Cody grinned. Clearly he had way too much faith in his brother. That or he underestimated Maya. Bailey obviously agreed with me.

"Woody is going to rip you off…" She said while shaking her head at her boyfriend.

We all sat back to watch the two hopelessly in love teenagers chasing each other. Even though, Zack looked severely pissed off, you could also see the love and adoration for the girl he was chasing.

"They're so perfect for each other…" Addison sighed as she nuzzled her face in Woody's neck.

"They are, aren't they?" Bailey said as she raked her hands through Cody's hair absentmindedly.

"So are we, babe…" Cody said as she cupped his cheek. He pressed a light kiss to her palm. "So are we…"

_That you are… _I thought enviously. _That you are…_

* * *

After the happenings of that Friday night, it was as if the gods were taunting me. Everywhere I looked, there were couples happily in love and I had never felt so damn lonely.

A whole week of seeing everyone acting so lovey-dovey, I took a seat at the juice bar in a dismayed manner. Holden came over.

"Hey, London," he said. "You okay?" I sighed once more.

"I guess not…" He laughed. "Let me get you a smoothie…"

"You serve smoothies? Why?" I asked bewildered. Last thing I knew, Holden was one of the more privileged kids on this boat and didn't need to worry about a job.

"Felt like I could use the experience… Besides, it looks good on college applications." He shrugged it off like it was no big deal and I decided to let it go.

"Well," I said after taking a sip of the creation he had placed in front of me. "Whatever that was, it was delicious. You should keep this up."

He smiled in gratitude at the compliment. "Thanks. Now, what's bothering you?"

"Why do you care?" I asked.

"Isn't that part of the job? Being a barman? You serve drinks and you listen to people's problems?"

"I guess you're right…" I sighed. I seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. "It's just… All of my friends have these amazing boyfriends and this past week I feel like everyone has been trying to remind me that I don't have a boyfriend… It's like they've been acting all lovey-dovey around me on purpose…"

"I'm sure that's not true…" He said gently. "It is Valentine's Day tomorrow… Maybe that's it…"

"Maybe… But it's one thing to see strangers acting like that… But when it's my best friends… I know they're not rubbing it in, but sometimes I feel left out… Just this last Friday, Addison called Maya and Zack perfect for each other and I had to listen to Cody tell Bailey that they were perfect for each other, too."

"That sucks, London." Holden offered.

"It's not that I don't want them to be happy. It's just… I can't help but be a little envious of that… I want that too… Someone to hold me at the end of the night… Someone feeding me parts of his dinner… And tomorrow, it's Valentine's Day and I don't have a date, so I guess it'll be me, Ivana, Leonardo and Kate on a boat in the Atlantic.

"Thanks for listening, Holden." I smiled at him. He looked to be far away in thought. "I needed it…" I turned around and started walking away.

"Hey, London," Holden called.

"Yeah?"

"Don't lose faith in finding your perfect someone… Heck, never lose faith in finding your perfect someone… You never know, you might be surprised tomorrow…"

He winked at me as he closed the bar. "You're right… I shouldn't lose faith… You're going to make a great barman someday, Holden."

I threw in a wink of my own and left the Sky Deck. Repeating the same sentence over and over.

_Never lose faith in finding your perfect someone…_

* * *

The next day I woke up to the clatter of noise Bailey was making while she was rummaging through our drawers.

"For God's sake," I grumbled. "What are you doing?"

"I have a breakfast date with Cody in half an hour and I can't seem to find my pearl earrings… My grandmother gave them to me for special occasions and now I can't find them…" Bailey said frantically. "You haven't seen them by any chance?"

I turned over to lay on my stomach and pulled the pillow over my head. "Why do you need them anyway? It's not like Cody cares what earrings you wear…"

"It's Valentine's Day, London," she said with an exasperated tone in her voice. "I'd like to look nice for my boyfriend…"

"Such a lame holiday," I grumbled. "I don't get any presents…"

Bailey laughed at my pouty tone. "I beg to differ, laziest heiress on the planet," she said. "Get out from underneath that pillow and you'll see what has been delivered…"

I lifted the pillow and raised my eyebrow at her. "What has been delivered?" She pointed to the desk on my side of the cabin and I saw the most amazing bouquet of roses laying there.

"There's a card, too." Bailey said. I looked at her in questioning. "I looked…" She shrugged. I shook my head, laughing at the curiosity of my friend.

I looked at the enclosed card and stroked the calligraphy that was my name. I opened the card to read the inside.

'_**Never lose faith in finding your perfect someone. In the meantime, can I convince you to spend this Valentine's Day with me? I'll be waiting at the Juice Bar ready for our picnic. –Holden'**_ I read out loud. Suddenly I dropped the card and the roses.

"What's wrong? Did you get stung by any of the thorns?" Bailey asked concerned. I shook my head and turned around in an absolute terror-stricken way.

"What? What?" Bailey sounded scared, too. "It's almost as if you've seen a ghost…"

"I don't have anything to wear," I whispered. "I can't go on the date…"

"London," Bailey said in a calm voice. She put her hands on my shoulders and forced me to look her in the eye. "You went shopping yesterday. No one has seen those clothes yet. You'll be okay…"

I nodded gratefully when I realized she was right. "You're right. Thanks, Bailey."

"Don't mention it," She said. "Now, go get ready. I'll go tell Holden you're on your way while I'm on my way to Cody."

"Thanks!" I quickly yelled out as I jumped in the shower ready for an amazing day.

* * *

When I wrapped up my date with Holden I kissed his cheek and thanked him for an amazing day.

"Maybe we could do this again? Some other time?" He asked carefully. "If you want to, that is."

"I'd like that," I smiled. "Thanks for today, Holden. I needed this."

"Always happy to be your knight in shining armor, my lady," He joked while pressing a little kiss to my hand. "So you liked it?" He said more serious.

I nodded. "I liked it so much that I can't wait to brag to my friends about my wonderful date for Valentine's Day."

He laughed. "Well, don't let me stop you. I'll see you later?" He said.

"Definitely." I nodded in confirmation. With one last kiss on the cheek, I waved goodbye and practically skipped over to my cabin where the girls and I had agreed to meet.

* * *

I opened the door to my cabin and found the other three already sitting in a circle on the floor with candles lit up around them.

"How did you know?" I asked. I had indeed thought of a Rule, but I hadn't told them yet.

"Let's call it an inkling." Maya shrugged. "Now what do you have for the book?"

"Where _is_ the book?" Addison asked.

"That's what we'd like to know…" Bailey said pointing to herself and Maya. I held up my finger in a 'wait a minute'-matter. I quickly crawled under my bed and found the small fireproof vault.

"Little help here!" I said, my voice muffled through the mattress. I felt the three girls pulling my legs and 5 seconds later, I had taken my place in the circle.

"What's that?" Bailey asked, looking at the vault.

"Fireproof vault," I shrugged. "Why?"

"What's in it?" Maya asked curiously.

"The Book." I answered. "Why?"

"Why keep it in the vault?" Addison said.

"So no one can steal it." I explained. "Are you ready with your round of '20 questions'?"

They nodded and I unlocked the vault. I laid the Notebook in front of us and grabbed a pen. I quickly trusted both in Bailey's hands.

"You don't want to write the Rule down?" She asked.

"Don't feel like it…" I shrugged.

"Fine by me."

"Date?" Bailey asked.

"February, 14th." Maya answered.

"Rule?"

"**Never lose faith in finding your perfect someone. –Holden Stevens**" I said.

"Holden thought of that one?" Addison asked. I nodded. "How did he get there?"

"I guess that's part of the story Bailey's going to write down…" Maya said. Addison quickly nodded and shut her mouth.

"Story?" Bailey asked me as the three of them stared at me.

"London feels a little left out with the couples around her, especially around Valentine's Day, and finds consoling in the form of Holden Stevens. He tells her to not give up on love just yet. They have a great date."

Bailey quickly scribbled it down and shut the Book. I put it back in the vault and pushed it underneath my bed.

"Now what happened on your dates, today?" Maya asked.

The rest of the evening was spent telling stories about the past date and laughing at the boys' nervousness and their angst that their girls wouldn't like their gifts.

* * *

Note from the author : Hey all! The ninth chapter! I hope you liked it! Don't forget to leave a review? –RPL

**The No. 10 Rule of a (Suite Life) Lady : Look like a butterfly, sting like a bee**


	10. Rule No 10: Look Like A Butterfly

**Rules of Suite Life Ladies**

Note from the author : Hey all! Chapter 10 already. I can't believe it. I'd really like to thank each and every one of you for sticking with me and the story. Based on the reviews, I'd say you like the story?! I hope I don't sound conceited… Anyway, thanks for the support through reviews and I really wish you'll continue to do so. It makes my day. –RPL

Disclaimer : Don't own the Suite Life On Deck. Disney does.

Episode reference : 2x05 (Smarticle Particles), 1x01 (The Suite Life Sets Sail), 1x10 (Boo You)

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**The No. 10 Rule of a Suite Life Lady:  
Look like a butterfly, sting like a bee**

MAYA POV :

It was past 10:00 PM on a Friday night and we were docked in Australia. The gang and I were sharing embarrassing stories while enjoying the for once empty Sky Deck. It was a clear, starry night and after a whole day of sweltering heat, the temperature had started dropping.

"And then," Cody hiccupped. "Becky lifted Zack straight out of his chair and held him up so he could look over the ship's railing. He was mortified…"

I had tears streaming out of my eyes from laughing so hard. "I wish I was there to see it…"

"That was not funny…" Zack whined. "I was completely embarrassed. I was going out with a girl who treated me like a baby brother instead of a date…"

"I'm sorry, honey," I said still giggling. "But you have to admit, if it were Cody in that position, you'd be laughing too…"

He grumbled a little, but admitted defeat. "Speaking of Cody," he suddenly said. I could see dangerous, little lights flaming up in his eyes and the devil horns sprouting on his head. "Has he ever told you that on the first day he knew Bailey, she already saw his underwear?"

I lifted my eyebrow at Cody and Bailey, one of which had the decency to blush. He hid his rosy cheeks in her hair.

"You should know," Bailey spoke up. "The Share-Bears on those were really cute…"

Us listeners rolled over the floor laughing like maniacs. "Oops," she giggled. "Probably shouldn't have said that…"

"You know, if you want to tell embarrassing stories, Bailey," London suddenly spoke up. "You should tell them about your little date with Holden after the 'Boo You'-fiasco…"

Everyone started roaring at that and I was once more reminded of all the adventures I had missed before I got on the boat.

"What?" I asked. "What happened?"

Holden spoke up. Ever since Valentine's Day, he and London had been spending a lot of time together. I could see him falling for her, but she remained blissfully oblivious. I really felt sorry for the guy.

"Back then, Bailey had some kind of weird crush on me," aforementioned girl stuck her tongue out at the speaker and accused him of liking her just as much, but he continued his story as if he hadn't noticed nor heard. Cody looked pained at the idea of his Bailey crushing on someone else. "London had this web show up and running and had recently introduced a new rubric called 'Boo You'. Practically, London pulled pranks on people, Woody taped them and put them on the internet…"

London continued the story. "Bailey got mad at me and I felt guilty, so I set her up on a date with Holden. Only Bailey found out I had set them up and…"

"She started looking for hidden cameras and ruined the complete evening…" Holden finished. "Back then, I was shocked, but now…" Holden couldn't even finish his sentence as he was laughing so hard.

"Seems like I've missed a lot…" I spoke quietly. Zack rubbed my shoulders.

"Don't worry about it, babe," he said. "You're here now and we've got the rest of Senior Year to enjoy ourselves… Embark on adventures all over the world…

"Some of those will be just ours…" he whispered cheekily in my ear.

"You're awfully sure of yourself…" I whispered back. We were lost in our own little world and I loved every second of it.

"Nah," he said giving me a little Eskimo-kiss. "Just falling in love…"

My breath hitched at that. I could see the realization of what he had just said settling in his eyes.

"Maya…" he said. "I-I-I'm s-s-sorry… I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable…"

"You didn't," I whispered stroking his cheek. "You just caught me off guard… I-I…"

"It's ok," he reassured me. "I don't expect you to say it back… Just wanted to say it out loud for once… It's been swirling inside my head for some time now, and I must say: it feels good to let it out…"

I giggled. "For the record," I said seriously. "I really like you, too Zack."

"I know you do…" He said placing a little kiss on my soft spot on the left side of my neck, just below my ear. I sighed in contentment at the gesture and nestled further in his embrace.

* * *

Everyone was just talking, laughing and plainly enjoying our evening as we suddenly heard the typical flopping sound of a helicopter approaching. We all curiously looked at London.

"It's not the Tipton-helicopter," she said. "And if it was, I didn't order anything…"

We shrugged and continued our activities. Alas, our peace and quiet was soon to be disturbed. We heard footsteps coming up the stairs and three voices carrying over to us.

"And this is the Sky Deck, girls," Mr. Moseby was saying. "This is the spot where the youth usually hangs out when they're not in class."

"That's great…" A female voice with a thick British accent said.

"That's really great…" A similar voice said. The first voice sighed.

Moseby and the two disembodied voices arrived on the Sky Deck. Apparently, the two voices belonged to twin girls about our age.

"Ah, it seems we are in luck. As I was saying before, this is where the youth hangs out. As you can see, I wasn't lying." Moseby pointed at us and the girls looked over.

"Zack?" One of them asked. I heard said guy groaning.

"Cody?" The other said. Cody had a reaction similar to his brother's.

"Jessica?" Zack and Cody answered at the same time. "Janice?"

"Hi, boys!" They squealed. They ran over to hug them and suddenly both of them saw Bailey and me wrapped up in the guys' embraces.

"Oh, eurhm…" The one standing in front of Zack said. "I'm Jessica." She stuck her hand out and I politely shook it.

"Maya." I smiled. "Zack's girlfriend." A similar exchange happened between who I presumed to be Janice and Bailey.

"Zack's girlfriend, huh?" I nodded. "Wow, things sure have changed…" She muttered.

"Excuse me, girls," Moseby interrupted. "While I'm glad you've found some friends to show you the rest of the ship," Moseby looked pointedly at Cody and Zack and I heard Zack uttering a string of curses in my hair. "I must show you your cabin now and get you settled in."

"Oh, okay," Janice said. At least, I think it was Janice. "Come on, Janice." And, I was wrong. "See you later, boys."

Both of them waved flirtily at Zack and Cody and ignored the rest of us.

* * *

"_See you later, boys…_" Bailey scoffed. "Who do they think they are? Snobbish, British bitches… Did you see how they just ignored us? It was as if we weren't even here…"

"Oh, oh," London muttered just loud enough for all of us to hear. "A jealous Bailey. Everyone get down!" Everyone cracked a grin at that, even Bailey.

"How about we start at the beginning," I suggested. "Janice and Jessica obviously know you guys," I said looking at Cody and Zack. "How?"

"We met them in middle school." Cody shrugged. "They stayed in the Boston Tipton with their dad and we hung out."

"What did she mean 'things sure have changed' when I told her I was your girlfriend?" I asked Zack.

"Cody and I might have gone out with them a couple of times," He said hesitantly. My eyebrows shot up and he quickly continued. "We were maybe 13 at the time, it didn't mean anything. Plus, I told Janice, who I was 'dating', that I didn't want to be tied down to one girl. And now you introduce yourself as my girlfriend, so…"

I nodded in understanding. I had another question at the tip of my tongue, but Bailey beat me to it.

"But why are they so flirty with the two of you if you went out when you were 13 years old?" She asked. London spoke up.

"I can answer that one," she said. "But if anyone ever dares to repeat it, I'll have daddy's men kill you," she glared at each one of us and we nodded. "Zack and Cody have grown into rather attractive young men since those two have last seen them. Vain as they are, they'll go after them. They're not exactly bright and they only care about appearances. So, they want hot boyfriends. Beware…" She warned.

"I don't believe that…" Addison said. "I think we should give them a chance. See where it goes."

Woody nodded. "And if London's right, we'll help you get rid of them." Holden nodded in agreement.

"Besides, I doubt they'll be here very long." He tried to assure both me and Bailey. "It's not like they're going to enroll in Seven Seas High."

Zack unwrapped his arms and I frowned. He grinned.

"I'm going to get another smoothie, babe," he said, kissing my cheek. "I'll be right back. You want another one?" I shook my head.

"But I do want another kiss…" I grinned. He rolled his eyes and bend down to give me another one.

"Happy?" he asked. "Very." I smiled.

"Anyone else who wants another smoothie?" Addison declined, but they others agreed.

"I'll help you carry them." Cody offered. Zack nodded his thanks and both brothers went over to the smoothie counter.

Suddenly we heard girly shrieks and running footsteps. Dread started coursing through my veins.

_Not again…_ I thought to myself.

I turned around and saw the girl-twins draped all over Zack and Cody. I coughed, but they didn't seem to notice. I looked at Bailey and she nodded. Both of us got up and went over there.

"What's going on?" I asked cheerily. "You know, what has gotten the two of you in such a good mood that you have the guts to drape yourself all over our boyfriends?"

The one all over Zack turned around and looked at me with an evil smile. "We were just sharing our good news."

"Want to share it with all of us?" Bailey asked, she did little to hide the venom in her voice.

"We decided to enroll in Seven Seas High!" The other one shrieked. "Isn't it fantastic?"

Holden choked on the smoothie Zack had just handed him. "What?" He asked through teary eyes.

"I said we're enrolling in Seven Seas High!" Jessica (?) said. "We called Daddy and he told us we could finish our semester here."

"WHAT?" The eight of us yelled out.

"Please tell me you're kidding!" Bailey almost begged. "Please!"

"Oh, no we're not. Everyone is so friendly here and Daddy thinks it's an opportunity of a lifetime. And if we don't like it, we can just go home. It's up to us." Janice did her own version of London's Yay me-dance routine.

Suddenly a small devil version of me popped up on my shoulder. You know, the one you see in cartoons and such… Usually you have an angel on the other shoulder, but mine was currently on break. Hehehe…

_She said it herself…_ The devil-me said. '_If we don't like it, we can just go home. It's up to us…_'

"What are you suggesting?" I asked the devil.

_Make them not like it… Pull pranks but don't get caught… I doubt it'll take much to convince Bailey and Zack…_

"You're devious…" I grinned at the devil.

_I'm the devil…_ She grinned back. _Remember… Don't get caught…_ The devil disappeared in with a small 'poof' and I smirked.

"Game on, bitches." I muttered under my breath as I waved Bailey over and pulled Jessica away from Zack.

* * *

As the devil-me had predicted, it took little to convince Bailey into taking part in my plan. Convincing Zack however was a little harder.

"Why would you do that?" He asked me when I told him my plans.

"Because she's flirting with my boyfriend…" I shrugged.

"So?"

"So?" I repeated icily. "Excuse me, did you just say 'so'?" He nodded.

"Don't you get it, Zack?" I asked him. "As long as she's here, there will be no time nor place for an 'us'."

"What does that mean?" He asked. I could hear a hint of anger in his voice.

"You were there last night, weren't you?" I asked him. He nodded. Confused. "You did see Jessica throwing herself at you, right? You did see Janice throwing herself at you brother, right?"

"I don't get what the big deal is," he said. "So what? They're a bit physical. It's not like they're going to try and tear us apart…"

"Aren't they?" I asked him.

"Maya…" He said taking several steps closer. He pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I wrapped mine around his waist. "I'd like to believe that what we have is strong enough to withstand some innocent flirting from an old friend."

"You sure?" I asked him. I hated sounding so vulnerable… Insecure... "Because I know we're strong, Zack. But I also know she's not going to take 'no' for an answer."

"I promise you, Maya." He said lifting my chin so I had to look him in the eye. "Jessica isn't going to tear us apart. And neither is Janice going to tear Bailey and my brother apart."

"If you say so…" I said. I still wasn't convinced.

"Are you sure it's Jessica you don't trust?" He suddenly asked. I pulled my head away from his chest. I heard the insecurity in his voice.

"Zack…" I sighed. "Do you think I don't trust you?" He shrugged.

"Zack, I gave you my heart. I wouldn't do that if I didn't trust you with it. I swear, the only one I don't trust is her." I stroked his cheek.

"Besides…" I whispered. "If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't tell you this; I'm falling in love with you, too, Zack." He looked at me in total surprise.

"You are?"

"I am." I nodded. He hugged me tightly. "You and I, baby." I said.

"You and I." He whispered.

"How about this," I suggested. "I give Jessica a week to prove herself; If I still don't trust her, I'll get rid of her…"

"Fine… I guess I can live with that…" he sighed. "But you have to give her a week. A whole week. The full seven days."

"Fine." I said kissing his lips. "I promise."

He kissed me back. "That's my girl."

"Say that again…" I spoke softly.

"What?" He asked. "That's my girl?" I shivered in his arms.

"You cold?" he asked.

"No, that's the usual reaction when you claim me as yours." I smiled.

"Good or bad?" He asked carefully.

"Very good." I replied. I pressed another light kiss to his lips. He grinned against my mouth.

* * *

After my shift at the Juice-bar I made my way over to Bailey with my schoolbooks. I sat down across from her and took out my History-assignment and textbook.

"What did he say?" She asked. I didn't need to ask her who she meant.

"He asked me to give her a week. I told him I would, but if I still didn't trust her at the end of said week, I'd get rid of her. He agreed."

"That's all?" She asked. I told her what had happened in his cabin and she flinched at the mentioning of the small fight.

"Are you okay?" She asked. I smiled. "Yeah. Zack assured me we were strong enough to survive that British snob. How did Cody take it?"

"Surprisingly well." She answered. "Then again, we already broke up over some flirty outsider so I guess he didn't want to take no risks. He won't stop us, but he also said he doesn't want to take part in any of this…"

"That doesn't matter… As long as he doesn't sabotage us…" I shrugged. "You're still in, right?"

"Heck yeah… No one steals my man…" She joked. I laughed at her voice.

"No but seriously," she said a whole lot less jokingly. "I know what's it like to lose Cody. I don't ever want to go through that pain again. And I'm certainly not going to stand by and watch some British cow try and tear us apart. So, what's the plan?"

"Right now, we lay low. I promised Zack and I am not going to break that promise." I said. "But let's say this is my new motto; Look like a butterfly, but sting like a bee. When necessary of course…" I added as an afterthought.

"Hey, you know, that could be our tenth Rule." Bailey said, looking thoughtfully.

"What could?" I asked confused. I was so lost in my possible ways of getting rid of Jessica and Janice that I completely forgot about our conversation.

"Look like a butterfly, but sting like a bee." Bailey answered. "It's brilliant."

"Thanks." I smiled. "You're right… It does sound kind of good… And it just so happens that I have the Book with me." I grinned. I pulled it out of my backpack.

"Let me text London and Addison…" I interrupted her quickly.

"Won't be necessary…" I said pointing behind her. Our friends came over, stomping away, and looked downright furious. Especially London. She dropped herself in the seat to my right and leaned over.

"What's the plan?" She asked.

"Huh?" Bailey and I said looking at Addison. She tried to get something out, but was obviously too upset to produce any kind of sound.

"We just found nitwit number one and number two in the library…" I opened my mouth to say something but London held up her hand and continued her story. "They were sitting there talking about how Zack and Cody had gotten 'so deliciously dreamy' and how their _girlfriends_ don't stand a chance… After all, you never forget your first love…" This time Bailey tried to interrupt, but she got the same response I had gotten. "And if, in some parallel universe, they wouldn't succeed there was always Holden. After all, _that dumb heiress_ could hold his attention, why couldn't they?" London looked pissed at this point and we all knew a pissed London was comparable to a PMS-ing Maya or a jealous Bailey. Danger ahead.

"They said that there were a lot of things they would have to get used to on this boat, but the friendship between dreamy twin number one, dreamy twin number two and that disgusting poodle-haired boy was something they'd never get."

"Basically," Addison interrupted and she ignored the annoyed look on London's face. "They've managed to piss off all four of us in the time span of less than 24 hours. What's the plan?"

"Following the tenth Rule of a Suite Life Lady…" Bailey said. She looked very pleased at our two newest allies.

"Which would be?" London asked, her interest peeked. Addison looked just as eager.

"We were just about to text you and call a meeting." I opened the Book and pulled out a pen. "Who wants to do the honors?"

"You do it," Addison pushed over the Book and the pen to Bailey. "London and I are way too upset and Maya's handwriting is illegible anyways…"

"Hey!" I said. Addison shrugged.

"Date?" Bailey asked. She could sense a bickering match coming up and the last thing we needed, was to be mutually divided.

"March, 1st." Addison answered.

"Rule?" Bailey asked again.

"**Look like a butterfly, sting like a bee.**" I answered.

"I like that one…" London said. "The story?" She asked.

"Jessica and Janice hit on Zack and Cody. Bailey and Maya are annoyed. Also, they insult London and Woody. Jessica and Janice manage to piss all the Suite Life Ladies off in less than 24 hours. Ladies try to keep their cool for a week." I said while watching Bailey scribbling it all down.

"So, what do we do?" Addison asked.

"We do our homework and try to give them a week." I said. "I promised Zack I'd lay off for a week and if I still don't like him by the end of the week, I get to prank them."

"Fine by me." She replied and London nodded.

"I'm game." London said.

"Let's get started. Ms. T. asked for an essay on the Industrial revolution."

* * *

Note from the author : Hey all! I hope you liked the tenth chapter! I decided to keep the British twins around for a little while longer. I think they might come in handy for the next (few) Rule(s). For the next chapter, I have a feeling Reina might be back… Remember her? If you don't, you should watch episode 2x04, Kitchen Casanova again. Let me know what you thought? –RPL

**The No. 11 Rule of a (Suite Life) Lady :**** Cover up. Being a mystery is more sexy than showing every inch of yourself off.**


	11. Rule No 11: Cover Up

**Rules of Suite Life Ladies **

Note from the author : Hey all! Here it is: the eleventh chapter of 'Rules of Suite Life Ladies'. I'm really happy you're still reading the story! Thank you so much for the support and lovely reviews! I really hope you'll continue to read and review. I mean it when I say it makes my day. Enjoy the eleventh chapter! –RPL

Disclaimer : I don't own the Suite Life On Deck. Never did, probably never will. Neither do I own the movie 'Gangster Squad' nor do I own any of the other movies that were mentioned.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**The No. 11 Rule of a Suite Life Lady: Cover up. Being a mystery is more sexy than showing every inch of your skin off.**

ADDISON POV :

"Oh my god!" London squealed as we were walking back to our respective cabins. "I think I have found my new favorite movie. I mean: Ryan Gosling in a cop costume plus beautiful dresses plus a killer-scenario equals a very happy London."

We all shook our heads at our bubbly friend. She was wearing a completely love-struck expression on her face after our latest class trip. This week was 'Movie-week' and Miss Tutweiller had arranged for us to see three different movies each day, all the same genre but made in a different way or with another perspective. We were supposed to hand in an essay on every movie.

"Wow, London," I snickered. "This must be the first time I've seen you acting all enthusiastic over school stuff. You sure you're feeling okay?"

Maya decided to join in on the teasing. "I bet you she'll even get started on her essay as soon as she gets back to her room!"

We all grinned as London stuck out her tongue at us. "Haha, very funny!"

"I thought so…" Maya said shrugging. London coughed something that sounded suspiciously like 'smart-ass'. Bailey and I started roaring at that.

"But seriously, London," Bailey said with a very sincere look on her face. "Did you just make an equation ? Like something that could almost be called math?" We all burst in another round of laughter at that.

"That hurt, you guys." London said. "We should think of a Rule for that…"

"You're right… Sorry London, we shouldn't have teased you…" We apologized. Luckily, she was quick to forgive us.

"So," she said. "What did you guys like best in the movie?"

"The script…" Maya said. "And the way the actors brought the dialogue to life. Oh, and the scenery…" She added as an afterthought. "Some were absolutely breath-taking…"

Bailey nodded. "Definitely the scenery. And the special effects. They weren't overdone like in some other action-movies." We all muttered in agreement.

"What about you, Addison?" Maya asked me as she opened the door to our cabin. All four of us went inside. I took a deep breath.

"The costumes…" I said resolutely. "The way the fashion trends from the forties were so real… so detailed… I loved the dress Emma Stone wore… The red one… I thought for sure it would clash horribly with her red hair, but it went so well together…"

"I'll second that…" Bailey nodded. "They were really great…"

Suddenly London's face held a smile that large I was scared her face was going to split.

"What are you thinking?" Maya asked warily. Obviously she had noticed the expression, too.

"Remember how Miss Tutweiller asked us to think of a way to end Movie-week?" We all nodded confused. "Well, Addison just gave me an idea…"

"What did I do?" I asked bewildered. I started racking my brain but came up empty-handed.

"Yeah, what did she do?" Neither Bailey nor Maya seemed to have caught on with London.

"You said you liked the costumes…" She winked and she took off like a lightning bolt.

"Hey!" I shouted after her. "Where are you going? It's almost curfew!"

"I don't care about curfew… Daddy…" Bailey interrupted London before she could finish her sentence.

"Daddy owns the boat! We know!" She drawled. "Where are you going, though?"

"To see Moseby and Tutweiller… I'm going to talk to them about my idea…" She yelled back as she ran out the door and down the hall.

"Make sure you knock!" Maya smirked. "And loudly! Things tend to get loud when Moseby's around!"

Bailey and I pulled a face at the mental images Maya's remark had conjured.

"You think the mental images are bad?" She asked us. "Try seeing the actual thing…"

"We're not even going to ask…" Bailey said shaking her head while she stood up. I frantically shook mine too.

"Not at all…" I said quickly.

"Well," Bailey said. "My Daddy doesn't own this boat so curfew does apply to me…

"Night!" She waved at us as she entered her cabin. We smiled as we closed the door to ours.

"Night!"

* * *

"What do you think London's idea is?" I asked Maya when we got into our beds. She shrugged.

"Knowing London, it'll be a great idea…" She smiled, fond of our friend. "A little bit extravagant, maybe, but great nonetheless…" I laughed.

"What are we seeing tomorrow?" She asked. I looked at the program on the nightstand between the two of us.

"The theme's 'teenagers and their way towards adulthood'…" I read aloud.

"Sounds interesting…" Maya said. We looked at each other and started roaring with laughter.

"I'm sorry…" She hiccupped. "I can't believe I was able to say that with a straight face…"

I wiped the tears of mirth from my eyes and looked at the movies we were going to see.

"Hey! We'll be watching 'Spring Breakers'…" I grinned. "Do you think Moseby will allow us to see the whole movie?"

"I doubt it…" Maya said rolling on her side so she could face me. "I've already seen it and it's pretty dark… Don't think he'll think it's appropriate… What else are we watching?"

" 'Sucker Punch' for some reason…" I said facing my roommate. "Don't know why though… It's not like it fits the theme… And some French movie… 'LOL'… Liza Azuelos directed it…"

"Oh…" Maya's eyes lit up in recognition. "It's the original version from the one with Miley Cyrus… Remember, my sister won tickets to the avant-premier and let us use them…"

"Right!" I said remembering that particular excursion. "So we'll see the French version?" She nodded. "Is it good?" She nodded once more and yawned.

"Tired?" I asked her through a yawn of my own. She grimaced.

"Beat, actually…" She yawned again. Her eyes were dropping closed and I could see her drifting off to sleep. "3 movies a day, 2 shifts at the Juice Bar a day and all those essays... I think I'll never get rid of the dark rings underneath my eyes…"

"Poor you… How about we turn in early?" Usually, Maya and I would talk about the previous day and whatever was on our minds, but today we were both dead on our feet. "We'll need our eight hours of sleep for school…"

She grinned. "I love school, you know?" I raised an eyebrow and could only imagine how that particular sentence would end.

"That's a new one…" I said warily. "Where did that come from?"

"I love school, _this week_." She smirked. "Three movies a day with my boyfriend next to me? Right there when I get 'scared' or 'emotional'…"

I laughed once I got what she insinuated. "I take it you haven't really finished many essays, yet."

She shrugged. "They're only due the end of next week… I'll work on them this weekend…"

"I wouldn't count on that…" I grimaced. "Knowing London, Movie-week will end with a 'bang'… And I'm not sure it'll be a figurative 'bang'…"

"You're right…" Maya said apprehensive. "How about tomorrow evening, the four of us get together to work on our essays?"

"Fine…" I yawned. "But can we go to bed now? I'm really, really fighting off the sleep…"

"Let's go to bed…" She nodded. "Sleep tight…"

I didn't even answer… Sleep had already consumed me.

* * *

Usually mine and Maya's shared alarm clock went off around 7:15 AM. This morning though, we weren't woken by our wake up-song 'Highway To Hell' by AC/DC. (Maya and I found it fitting for the weekdays.)

No, this morning Maya and I were roughly awakened by the sound of the door of our cabin flying open and hitting the wall. As if that hadn't already given us the scare of our life, suddenly a body came flying on top of us and stole the pillow from underneath our heads. The person on top of us started whacking us over the head with the stolen pillows.

"Get up!" My attacker cried. "It's another bright day of school…"

I groaned and rolled over on my stomach. I opened one bleary eye and tried focusing on the digital clock on the nightstand.

_6:45 AM…_ The red letters read. I groaned once more.

"Awake yet?" The person on top of me asked. I mumbled and stole the pillow back.

"No…" I whined. "Go away!"

"Addison…" The person sing-songed in a quiet voice. Suddenly I felt long tresses of soft hair tickling my cheeks and the presence of my attacker lingering closer. I should've known what was coming, but I was too tired.

"GET UP!" Bailey yelled in my ear. I cried out in shock and sent her flying off the bed. London started roaring from her place on top of Maya's bed, the latter still fast asleep.

Bailey groaned and rubbed the lump that was quickly forming on her forehead. "Awww! Addison, why did you do that?"

"What are you two doing here?" I whisper-yelled. "And why was I so rudely awakened when Maya is allowed to sleep until the alarm clock goes off?"

"Can't wake her up…" London shrugged. Bailey sighed and went into our bathroom which she exited 20 seconds later with a glass of water in her hands. She poured it over my roommate's head who came up spluttering.

"What the hell?!" She shrieked. When she sat up and came face-to-face with a giggling London, she pushed her off her bed, too. Maya and I grinned as we saw our best friends with matching lumps on their foreheads.

"Awww!" London groaned. "Not nice!" Bailey nodded agreeing.

"What are you two doing here?" Maya and I asked furiously. "At 6:45 AM nonetheless?"

"I have an idea for the end of Movie-week and Miss T. agreed!" London said doing her signature Yay me-dance.

"So?" Maya asked slowly. "You couldn't tell this over breakfast? Which is in half an hour?"

"Bailey," I said facing our other friend. "Why did you let her wake us?" Bailey looked guiltily at us.

"It's a good idea?" She tried. London nodded vehemently.

"Fine…" I sighed. "We'll bite. What's this great idea? And why couldn't we just be informed of it with the rest of our classmates?"

"Because I'm only telling them tomorrow so we're sure to have a head start. That way we're sure to look the most amazing…" London said as if she was explaining something really simple to a three-year-old.

"Huh?" Maya said. She looked just as confused as I probably did. London sighed.

"I went and saw Moseby and Tut last night and told them my idea for the end of Movie-week and they were very enthusiastic and I can start organizing because I'm responsible for the party and…"

"LONDON!" I interrupted her. "You know we could help you…"

"If…" Maya continued. "You told us your goddamn idea!"

"Oops! Well, it'll be a dance. And I want everyone to dress up like a character from their favorite movie from the last week… So start thinking who you're going to be and we'll go looking for our costumes after the movies… I'll tell the others tomorrow so we can look for ours in peace."

"Brilliant idea!" I gushed. I sprang out of bed and started gathering my clothes for that day. "I call shower!" I yelled at Maya as I sprinted towards our shared bathroom. I slammed the door closed behind me only to pop out my head 10 seconds later.

"Oh," I said. "And I call the dress Emma wore in Gangster Squad!"

I heard my friends laughing as I went and took a shower thinking of London's great idea.

* * *

And so it happened. London did inform the class of the end of Movie-week the next day and as was to be expected everyone started rushing for their costumes. Some thought they would outsmart others and wait until the end of Movie-week before they would choose their alter-ego for the night. Unfortunately for them, there weren't many options left the night before the dance.

That Friday night, the night before the dance, the gang gathered in Bailey and London's cabin to look at the costumes they would be wearing.

Bailey and Cody had opted for Rose and Jack from 'Titanic' whereas Maya and Zack would go as Allie and Noah from 'The Notebook'. London and Holden chose to go as Lola and Mael from 'LOL' (The movie had quickly taken 'Gangster Squad'-s position as London's favorite movie.) and Woody and I decided to dress up as Emma and Ryan's characters from 'Gangster Squad'.

The excitement was coursing through everyone's veins and we could hardly wait for the next evening, boys and girls alike. To celebrate the end of Movie-week in their close circle of friends, they decided on another movie just for the fun of it.

The boys were allowed to choose since they had so graciously gone along with whatever costume-choice us girls threw at them and chose 'Jaws' saying that 'if we were going to make them join us in a game of dress-up, they needed a good amount of blood, murderous fish and guts floating in the sea'.

Needless to say, us girls spent more than half of the movie with our faces hidden in our respective boyfriend's chest.

Little did we know, there was one thought in their minds.

_Mission accomplished…_ As they all tightened their arms around their girls.

* * *

Finally the night of the dance arrived and the air crackled with excitement and high expectations. Everyone had heard that London was in charge and no one doubted she had planned a great evening.

The dance was in full-swing when suddenly the crowd went silent and everyone looked at someone who had arrived on the Sky Deck. Or rather three someones.

The crowd had cleared a little area and the eight of us made our ways upfront. With a little shoving, a little pushing and a lot of 'excuse me'-s and 'pardon me'-s we saw what, or rather who, had caused the ruckus. Reina, Janice, Jessica and Reina's best friend Tiffany. The four of them all wore identical smirks on their faces and embarked in the attention.

"What the hell?" Bailey asked. The eight of us all felt our eyes nearly bulging out of our heads, but not for the right reasons.

There they stood in their swimwear with guns and some guy in a Hawaiian shirt with his arms draped over their shoulders. Clearly, they had found their inspiration in the movie 'Spring Breakers'.

"You like it?" Reina asked eyeing Holden. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down nervously and he looked at London who was glaring angrily at Reina.

"Is there a right answer to that?" He asked carefully. She shrugged innocently.

"Maybe…" She openly flirted as her little friend, Tiffany, made her way over to me and Woody.

"Hey Woody," She practically purred. "You look really handsome…"

"T-T-Thank you…" He stuttered. She grinned when she sensed his nerves and started running her hand up and down his arm.

"Do I make you nervous?" He shook his head, but everyone could tell she did. "Why? I mean, surely a handsome man like you has seen a girl in a bikini before…"

She looked at me, challenging me and I felt my eyes spitting fire. I was about to toss an angry retort her way, but Maya stepped in.

"DJ!" She yelled. Sometime during our conversation with the foursome before us, the music had stopped playing. "Play us some music! And everyone," Several gazes lingered for a little while lingering on the girls in bikini before turning towards my roommate.

"This is a party!" She said dangerously. "Not a brothel!" She glared at Jessica who was making her way over to Zack. "Let's start dancing, shall we?"

She was quick to grab Zack's arm and drag him on the dance floor. She wrapped her arms possessively around his neck and placed his dangerously low around her waist, making a statement.

Deciding to follow her example, I quickly seized Woody's arm and found an empty spot on the by now packed dance floor. I rested my head on his shoulder and he tightened his hold on me.

"You look beautiful, Addison." I heard him whispering in my ear. I smiled up at him.

"Thank you, Woody." I said. "I'm sorry if I come across as a little insecure girl… When Tiffany's around…" I explained when I saw his confused look.

"She was openly trying to flirt with you and I'm not blind… She's an attractive girl and she's running around in a bikini while I'm wearing a dress that reaches the floor and it's just… I don't want you to think that you can't dance with her if you want to, it's just… I really like you and with her near I feel like I should tell her not to try and…"

Woody chuckled and pressed a kiss to my head. "Don't worry, Addison." He whispered. "If you ask me, you're easily the most beautiful girl here. Besides, I don't like Tiffany. She's really annoying… And wearing what she's wearing tonight makes any possible underlying feelings I might've had at some point, completely disappear."

"Thanks, Woody." I said and he twirled me. I laughed and pulled him a little closer.

"Besides," He suddenly said. "My grandmother always told my sisters; Cover up. Being a mystery is more sexy than showing every inch of your skin off. And I completely agree with Nanna."

"Your Nanna is a very wise woman…" I winked and he grinned while he led me into another slow song.

Together we danced the night away and laughed at the desperate attempts of Jessica and Janice to get closer to Zack and Cody and the glares London sent Reina when she tried cutting in.

We danced, we laughed and we fell in love…

* * *

Later that night Woody escorted me to my cabin and pressed a light kiss to my lips when he dropped me off.

"Good night," he whispered still holding on to my hand. "I had a great time, Addison."

"So did I, Woody." I smiled while pulling him close for another hug. "Go to prom with me…" I whispered in his ear before I knew what I was doing.

"What?" He whispered, pulling away a little. "Did you just ask me to prom?"

I nodded, a little bit scared of what his reaction would be. Suddenly he groaned.

"Addison…" He whined.

"You don't have to…" I quickly said. "I know that it's still more than 8 weeks away and it hasn't even been announced but I thought it would be a great way to end our Senior Year and…"

He kissed me in the midst of my rambling. I moaned and threw my arms around his neck.

"Addison," he breathed against my lips. "I was supposed to ask you… Not the other way around…"

I giggled when I realized what he had just said. "So that's a yes?" I asked carefully.

He smiled warmly. "That's a 'hell yes'…" He pressed another kiss to my mouth. "Thank you for tonight, Miss Addison."

He pulled away and pressed a kiss to my hand. "Pleasure was all mine, Mr. Woody…" I said playing along. I made a little curtsy in gratitude.

"Sleep tight…" He whispered kissing my cheek.

* * *

"You too…" I sighed as I watched him round the corner. I entered my cabin and fell down on my bed sighing in happiness.

"Uh-oh," I heard someone suddenly say. I let out a yelp and three different flashlights were turned on. In the darkness and my Woody-daze, I had completely walked past my friends who were seated in a circle on the floor.

"What?" I snapped at Bailey who had spoken up. "What the hell are you doing here? It's 2 AM…"

"Better question is; why are you just arriving now? At 2 AM?" Maya asked.

"And how long have you been here?" I answered raising an eyebrow. She stayed quiet and I had my answer. "Thought so…"

"Okay, enough bickering," London stepped in. "Now," She said tapping the Notebook in her hands. "What's the eleventh Rule?"

"Huh?" I said opening one eye.

"Please, you come in here, sighing like a love-struck fool and you're telling me there's no Rule?" She tsk-ed and rolled her eyes. "Out with it!"

I grinned. "There might be one…" I said thinking of Nanna Fink.

"What? What?" Maya asked curiously.

"What's got you so hyper-excited?" I asked her. There was something different about her, but I couldn't exactly figure it out. I looked at the others.

"Zack told her he loved her… That he's in love with her…" Bailey shrugged while looking at Maya who had a dreamy expression on her face.

"Nice…" I winked at her. Even in the darkness, I could see Maya Bennett blushing. "He's got you blushing…" She chucked a pillow at me and we all started laughing.

"Now, the Rule?" Bailey asked smiling. She had grabbed a pen and the Notebook and had already written down the date, March 5th.

"**The No. 11 Rule of a Suite Life Lady: Cover up. Being a mystery is more sexy than showing every inch of your skin off. –Nanna Fink**." I said.

"I like that one…" Maya praised. I grinned.

"Story?" Bailey asked concentrated on the page in front of her.

"Woody consoles a slightly jealous Addison after Tiffany and her posse show up dressed like whores." I said not at all sorry for the name-calling. Maya laughed at the name-calling.

"Never thought I'd see the day you called someone a 'whore'…" She said shaking her head. "Innocent, little Addison… Seems like my New York-roots have finally rubbed off on you…"

I shuddered. "I'm going to hell…" I whimpered playfully. She shoved me.

"Now," I said looking at her. "What's this about Zack telling you he's in love with you?"

* * *

Note 1 from the author : Hey all! I'm so very sorry you had to wait such a long time for this chapter! It's just that I'm writing two stories at once and I'm not doing a very good job of dividing my time between them. That's why I'm going to focus on this story and try and have it finished before the end of the Summer Holidays, after all, I wouldn't want a certain Guest-reviewer to die if I didn't update soon ;) . The story will end after the 22nd Rule, when the girls leave the boat for college. Maybe someday, there might be a sequel but I'm not promising. Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter, because I'm not really sure about it. I feel like it's a little rushed… Anyone who agrees? I'll try not to make you wait that long for the twelfth one. As a matter of fact, I'm going to get started on it right away. -RPL

Note 2 from the author : **Actsingdance23**, thank you so much for the encouragement. Your review reminded me of how I've been neglecting the readers of this story. I owe you one! Hope you'll continue to read and review the story!

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**The No. 12 Rule of a (Suite Life) Lady: Being single doesn't mean you're weak. It means you're strong enough to wait for what you really deserve.**


	12. Rule No 12: It doesn't mean you're weak

**Rules of Suite Life Ladies**

Note from the author : Hey all! I know it's been a long time since I've updated this story and I apologize. Writing two stories at once is a little bit more overwhelming than I imagined it would be. On top of that, school has started once more and already teachers are going nuts with homework and tests. Therefore, I've come to a solution: I'm going to leave a note for the readers of my other story (You should check it out if you're a fan of 'One Tree Hill') saying that I'm going to focus on this story first and that I'll pick theirs up starting this October. There will be ten more chapters after this one. I sincerely hope you'll read, enjoy and review them. It would mean so much to me. Thank you for reading. –RPL

Disclaimer : I don't own the Suite Life On Deck. Nor do I own the 'Rules of a Lady'.

* * *

_Special shout-out to :_

_**Actsingdance23**__: Thank you so much for another figurative kick under my butt and for reminding me of my loyal readers waiting for another chapter. I'm so sorry for making you wait so long. I apologize and hope you'll forgive me?_

_**Creativeusername:**__ I'm so sorry I more or less ignored your plea for cuteness. I really hope this chapter will make up for it! I'll try to update more regularly, though. That way you won't have to get down on hands and knees ;)_

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**The No. 12 Rule of a Suite Life Lady: Being single doesn't mean you're weak. It means you're strong enough to wait for what you really deserve.**

LONDON POV:

I was watching my friends who were (im)patiently waiting for their departure homewards. Spring Break was finally upon us and most of us were going home one last time before we'd all graduate Seven Seas High School. Some were looking forward to the week off from school, whereas others… Didn't.

"Zack!" I heard Maya's exasperated yell from somewhere in the midst of the masses. "Will you stop freaking out? You're driving me mad!"

I grinned as I heard Zack's affronted answer. "You want me to stop freaking out? Might as well ask me to jump in a basin filled with hungry piranhas!"

"Why are you acting like you're about to questioned by the Spanish Inquisition?" I asked guffawing. The duo looked baffled at my sudden burst of historical knowledge.

"What?" I asked them. "Is it so amazing that I know of them? I'm pretty sure Moseby's got some of his punishments from them…" I shrugged.

We all laughed a little, though Zack's sounded a little nervous. "What's up with him?" I asked Maya. She grinned as she looked at her boyfriend.

"He's staying with me this week and he's scared of meeting my parents…" I immediately sprouted an evil smirk.

"London?" Maya had noticed The Smirk and sounded a little apprehensive. "What are you up to?"

I shrugged. "If I have to survive a week on this boat without my friends to keep me entertained, I might as well use one of the last opportunities I have to pull a little prank…" She smiled devilishly.

"What are you going to do?" She started looking around for a potential victim and her eye fell on the blond nitwits. I snapped my fingers to break her out of her trance and pointed towards Zack.

"Why?" She asked. "The guy's a nervous wreck already. I don't think his heart can handle much more…"

"Lucky for him, the two of you have a three-hour-long flight. I doubt you won't find a way to calm him down…" I waggled my eyebrows suggestively and she blushed a little. "Play along, would you?" She nodded and I focused on Zack who stood talking to his brother and Bailey.

"Hey, Maya," I spoke loudly. As I expected, Zack looked over when his girlfriend's name was mentioned. "Didn't you say your brother studied History? And that he's now a History teacher, specialized in the middle ages?"

"Yeah, why?" Maya was a little confused, but went along with whatever scheme was going on in my mind.

_Great friend…_ I mentally praised her.

"And that he's like crazy protective over his younger sister?" I could see Zack visibly gulping and I grinned inwardly. She nodded.

"Wow," I said supposedly worried. "I'd hate to be Zack. I mean, meeting the family is bad enough. But throw in an overprotective brother who studied mediaeval punishments and the use of a chastity belt… Imagine if something he says is taken the wrong way…" I could barely keep my face straight as I saw Zack turning an odd mixture of white and green. "Good luck with that one, Zack. I'll say nice things at your funeral…"

Suddenly we heard a familiar splash (Familiar as in; we learned to associate the sound with Zack and/or Cody) and a voice yelling out 'Man overboard!'. All of our classmates laughed as a soaking wet Zack was pulled back on board.

"Maya," His teeth clattered as he spoke. "D-Do w-we h-have t-to meet your parents? I-I mean, w-we haven't been dating that long… W-Wouldn't w-want to r-rush in-into things…" The paleness in his face still hadn't left completely and I all but combusted looking at the fear-stricken look on his face.

Maya glared at me, though I could see amusement dancing in her eyes. I winked and she rolled her eyes before turning back to Mr. Scaredy-Pants.

"Babe," She spoke soothingly. "London's just messing with you… My parents _and_ my brother will adore you…"

"How can you be sure?" His voice sounded weak and I actually started feeling sorry for him. Maybe I shouldn't have tried and increased his queasiness.

"Do you love me?" He looked confused at her mismatched answer, but nodded nonetheless.

"Of course." He said strongly. "Why?"

"That's all they'll want to know… If you love me and they see that I love you, they'll love you too…" She presses a feathery kiss to his lips and he seemed to relax a little.

Knowing Zack would eventually realize that Maya had said I was purposely messing with him, I tried to flee the scene before the couple came up for air. Tough luck on my part.

"Tipton!" I heard Zack growl. Even though he was still soaking wet and shivering from the chilly morning air, he looked a little intimidating. Not to mention downright angry.

"Martin?" I replied sweetly. I looked at Maya, desperate for my friend to step in and diminish the chances of revenge, but she just intertwined her fingers with Zack's and deliberately looked away. Feeling Maya's hand in his, he knew she had silently taken his side and he squinted his eyes at me.

"You'll pay for that one…" He growled. "You better watch your back once I get back on this boat…"

"Make sure you survive Brian, Maya's brother," I winked. "Then we'll talk!"

Knowing I had pissed him off even more, I let out a bubbly laugh and made a mad dash away from them. "See you after the Break! Have fun!" I said to my classmates over my shoulder and, not looking where I was going, crashed into a hard body.

* * *

I fell on top of the body and felt tingles running up and down my spine as I looked into a familiar pair of stormy grey eyes. Holden looked just as surprised as I did when we realized we had collided and ended on the floor.

"London?" He laughed a little surprised. I groaned as I felt the bump that was quickly growing on my forehead and got off of my friend. He followed me and steered me over to a couple of vacant deckchairs. "Why were you running like the devil was at your heels?"

I grinned as I remembered why I had been running. "I annoyed Zack…" I said sheepishly and Holden shook his head, amused.

"What happened?" He asked while taking a seat next to me. He had retrieved an ice-pack from somewhere and pressed it gingerly to the bump. I hissed at the sensation but sent him a grateful smile.

"You know how he was supposed to meet Maya's family over the holidays?" Holden nodded, a little confused. "I may have mentioned that her brother studied medieval punishments and was a little over-protective over her…"

Holden's smile turned into a deep belly-laugh and he threw his head back in laughter. I smiled at the sound and experienced the, by now familiar, tingles.

"He didn't take it very well, did he?" I shook my head grinning like the cat that caught the canary. "Let me guess; he tried getting out of meeting her family? That or he jumped overboard?!"

"Both…" I smirked. His laughing died down to husky chuckles.

"Why, though?" Holden asked as he pushed a tendril out of my face. I felt my skin heating up at the contact. "I mean, Zack's one of your best friends? Why make him even more nervous and/or sick than he already was?"

I shrugged. "I'm all alone on this boat this week… Figured I might as well enjoy my last chance at a little entertainment while I could…"

"You're staying?" He asked me. For some reason he sounded really excited about that but I missed the enthusiasm as I nodded glumly. "What's with the face?" He asked when he saw my less-than-happy facial expression.

"What face?" I asked pretending to be oblivious. "I'm not making a face."

"Yes, you are," He said grabbing my chin and forcing me to look him in the eye. "Now what's with the face?" He asked again. I sighed and looked at him. For the first time ever, I noticed Holden's eyes held blue specks in them. I felt myself drowning in the color, but I forced myself to focus on his questioning. I shrugged.

"It's just…" I started. "The whole gang's gone this week, and so is Ivana, and Daddy won't allow me to go visit my friends in France so I'll pretty much be bored the whole week. Bored and alone."

"You don't have to be…" He spoke quietly. I raised an eyebrow at him and he shifted his hands so he was merely cupping my face lightly in his hands. "You could just hang out with me…"

"You're staying, too?" I felt my spirits being abruptly lifted at that. He nodded, seemingly pleased with my reaction. "I thought you were flying off and joining your family in Europe?"

He shrugged and absent-mindedly started stroking my cheeks. "I can do that during the Summer Holidays… I'd much rather keep you company than go and listen to my parents talk about several paintings I've seen a hundred times before…"

"You sure?" I asked him. I felt elated for some reason when I heard him say he chose me over his parents and the time he could spend with them. He nodded.

"Thanks, Holden…" I said standing up. I placed my hands on his shoulder and kissed his cheek. I didn't know why I did that, but I had to admit I liked doing it. Like I wouldn't mind doing it more often. "You're a great friend… I'll see you later, okay?"

I skipped off to the infirmary to hand in the ice-pack without waiting for his response and started thinking of things I wanted to do this week. Things I felt like sharing with Holden.

I never heard what he said when I left him there, sitting on that deckchair, staring at the seat where I had previously been sitting.

"_I may be a great friend, but I'd much rather be more…_"

* * *

Holden and I spent the whole week together having fun. We laughed, we talked, went on trips and just had a great time. I started wondering why he wasn't a bigger part of our little gang.

"Hey, Holden?" I had asked him as we lay stargazing one evening. "How come we never really hung out before?"

"What do you mean?" He turned his head to look at me and I followed his example.

"It's just…" I hadn't really known how to express it, but I had tried. I like to think I got the message across. "We've been in the same classes for the last two years, we've worked on projects together and we've been on field trips together. However, we never really hung out before… Outside of school, I mean."

He had shrugged and turned his gaze back to the inky sky. It had been an exceptionally starry night as we laid docked in Florida.

"You've never really giving us outsiders a chance to become close to you…" He had said. He hadn't meant it as reproach as much as he had meant it as an ascertainment.

"What do you mean?" I had asked. I had tried catching his gaze again but he was determined to keep looking at the sky.

"Your dad owns the boat, London, you could have had everyone in our class bending over for you. Yet, you stuck by Zack and Cody who you've known practically since they were born and you were a kid living at a hotel and being raised by Mr. Moseby. The three of you formed a circle, a tight-knit group since you got on board of this boat and you didn't offer anyone a way in."

"That's not true," I had quietly interrupted. "I mean, look at Bailey, Maya and Addison. They're my best friends and I haven't known them all that long…"

"That's different…" He had replied wistfully. "Bailey is your roommate. The two of you live together. The chances of you two not becoming friends were slim to none. Bailey grew up in a small town, but she left because she was a curious person. She likes meeting new people, people who weren't born and raised on a farm in Kettlecorn, Kansas. And you were in need of a female best friend. Sure you and the twins were close, but every girl needs a girl best friend."

"Fine, I can see how you talked yourself out of that, but how do you explain our closeness with Maya and Addison?" I asked him.

He sighed and continued his musings. "Maya and Addison found their way in through Zack and Woody. And Woody found his through Cody. If Zack and Woody hadn't fallen in love with them, if Cody hadn't formed a bond with Woody, none of them would've gotten in. And since I don't share a cabin with Zack, nor did you fall in love with me, I haven't found my way in your circle."

"I'm sorry…" I had whispered, ashamed to realize that he was right. Ashamed that my friends and I closed ourselves off to our other classmates, that we kept our little gang so elite.

"Don't be…" He had smiled as he grabbed my hand. "I'm glad you have such great friends… I just wish I had that, too… It's the only thing I regret about leaving my home, here in Miami. Leaving my friends…"

"Still, I feel bad about excluding you from all of that… I promise you, I didn't do it on purpose. I promise I didn't think you weren't good enough…"

"I never said you were thinking that…" He smiled. He had lifted himself on his elbow and had hovered over me, looking me in my eyes. I felt my breath getting a little caught in my throat.

"Besides," He had grinned. "I got to spend a whole week with you, now. And it's been great… I've had _boatloads _of fun… Pun intended…"

I had giggled at the boyish grin on his handsome face and felt a strange feeling erupting in my stomach. Strange, but a good kind of strange.

"I did, too." I had whispered. I lifted my hand to grasp his and gave it a little squeeze. I completely missed the blush that adorned his cheeks. "I'm actually kind of sad now that the others are coming back tomorrow…"

He raised his eyebrows, surprised, but stayed quiet to hear the continuation of my admittance. All this time, he never let go of my hand. My hand that seemed so little, so feminine, in comparison to his.

"Why?" He had asked when I gave no indication of continuing. I had shrugged.

"Because now I'm scared that I won't get to spend any more time with you…" I had whispered eventually. "You hung out with us occasionally before the Break, but it was just occasionally. But after this week with you, I really want to hang out more often… It's been fun…"

"I'd like that, too." He had whispered when the alarm of his watch went off. It had been time for us to get back to our cabins and he had gotten up. We had gone to our respective cabins and promised to see each other in the morning.

Which was now. We were sitting at the smoothie bar waiting for our friends to get back from their various destinations and join us for a cool beverage on this sweltering day. I was skimming through a gossip magazine as Holden took a break from making smoothies. The barman had been drowning in work and Holden had offered to help him out.

I turned a page in the magazine and let out a long, heavy sigh. Holden looked at me from where he stood washing and rinsing dirty cups and raised an eyebrow. I showed him the headline to the article I had come across.

_Marcus Little attends prestigious award show with supermodel and girlfriend Olivia Rue. _

"I'm sorry…" Holden whispered carefully as he came to stand where I sat.

"It's okay…" I smiled a little. "I'm okay with him dating… I couldn't expect him to wait for me… For him to wait until I graduated this floating jail…"

He chuckled a little, but said nothing. I never appreciated him more than I did in that moment. He just let me sit there, talking while he stood listening.

"It's just hard, you know…" I said after a whole minute of silence. He looked at me and wordlessly encouraged me to continue. I did after taking a deep breath. "I see my friends flying off to meet their boyfriend/girlfriend's family and I see my ex-boyfriend, who by the way told me he'd wait for me, that nothing would change, flaunting off his supermodel-girlfriend while I'm stuck here, being single."

Holden sighed. "London," His tone of voice immediately made me look at him. "There's nothing wrong with being single… You shouldn't worry about being single… My grandmother always told me God was looking down at the single people and thinking; 'I'm saving him or her for someone special…'"

"Do you think she is right?" I asked him with a small voice. He nodded firmly.

"Besides, if _he_ let _you_ go for _Olivia Rue_, then he's an idiot. That girl may be a supermodel, but she doesn't have anything on you…" He pretended to check me out and winked in an overdone fashion. I giggled.

"Except for maybe an inch or five…" I joked. He had to agree with me on that one.

* * *

During the day our friends arrived from wherever they had hung out over Spring Break and joined Holden and me on the Sky Deck. Stories were told, memories shared and pictures were shown.

"What happened between you and Holden?" The guys went to get us some drinks and I knew the girls would be on me the minute the boys left. I could see Addison had been dying to ask me that question since she had found us laughing and joking at the smoothie bar when she and Woody had arrived.

"Nothing…" I said. "We just hung out this week… That's all…"

"If that's all, why does he keep looking back over here every 5 seconds?" Maya asked curiously. I just shrugged but winked and waved as I caught him looking. He blushed and quickly turned back to the conversation between the boys. I giggled.

"You like him…" Bailey all but squealed. Three faces now each adorned their own devilish grin as I whipped my head around and slapped my hand over Bailey's big mouth.

"You do!" Maya squealed, too, but in a quieter way. I blushed to the roots of my hair and glared at them.

"I don't know what you're talking about…" I spoke haughtily. "Holden and I are just friends…"

"Puh-lease," Addison said. "It's so obvious… You like him…"

"I don't know, okay?" I spoke before realizing I had opened my mouth. I just started blurting it all out.

_Guess someone missed her girlfriends…_ The voice in my head taunted. For some reason it sounded suspiciously like Maya's.

"We've had fun, but I'm not so sure I'm ready for another relationship... And I'm pretty sure he wouldn't want to enter a relationship with me. I came across an article in a gossip magazine about Marcus and his new girlfriend and became all pathetic about my life as a single person…"

Three hands started rubbing circles in my back and I smiled at the familiar feeling. Though I couldn't help but think of, more like wish for another pair of hands that could be consoling me.

"It's just… When I see the three of you with your boyfriends I feel so alone… Cold… Weak… I don't have someone who will encourage me to take risks, to offer me a safe haven when things go wrong… Not like the three of you do…"

"Being single doesn't mean you're weak, London…" Addison spoke gently. I didn't want to but I noticed a flicker of something that really looked like pity in her eyes. I hated people pitying me.

"Addison's right, London," Bailey said again. "You're not weak… If anything, you're strong. Strong enough to wait for what you really deserve."

"Addison and Bailey are right, London…" Maya said pulling something out of the bag she brought with her. It was our Notebook and almost immediately a smile formed on my face.

"What's this?" We suddenly heard a voice speak. The boys had gotten our drinks and took their seats next to their respective girlfriends. Holden took a seat slightly behind me but handed me my drink. I smiled gratefully.

"Thanks…" He just smiled and waved my 'thank you' away. Zack interrupted our moment.

"What were you three doing?" He said wrapping a blanket over his and Maya's shoulders. Maya snuggled in her boyfriend's arms and he laid a little kiss on her head. She closed her eyes in contentment.

"We were about to write down another Rule…" She said. Three pairs of eyes flew over to her as she spoke so openly about what was supposed to be Our Secret.

"Maya!" Bailey spoke sternly. Maya just shrugged.

"What?" She asked, her eyes still closed. "Zack found the book during Break and I felt like sharing it with him… Besides, Missy Hypocrite," She mock-glared at our blonde friend. "It's not like you kept your yap shut…"

Cody grinned as Bailey looked like a little girl that was caught with her hand in the cookie-jar.

"Oops…" Cody laughed. "Busted…"

"Let's just write down the Rule…" Addison said laughing at Bailey's face. The latter hastily whipped up a pen and handed it to me. Maya handed me the book and scurried back under the blanket with Zack.

Only then did I notice the chilliness of the night and without thinking twice about it, heck without even thinking once about it, I grabbed my own blanket and took a seat between Holden's legs. I wrapped the blanket over us, ignoring his surprised, but pleased look.

"Euhrm, London?" He asked.

"I'm cold. Aren't you?" I answered as I snuggled a little closer. He shrugged and wrapped his arms around my waist underneath the blanket. I opened the book.

"Date?"

Bailey answered. "April, 3rd."

"What's the Rule?" Holden asked as he noticed the goose bumps on the flesh of my forearms. He draped the blanket a little more secure around my little frame and ran his hands up and down my arms in an attempt to warm me up. I smiled at the feeling.

"**Being single doesn't mean you're weak. It means you're strong enough to wait for what you really deserve. –Addison & Bailey**." Maya smiled at our two friends and I quickly scribbled the Rule down.

"All done…" I smiled as I tossed the Book aside. "Now Zack?"

The blonde looked over from where he was playing with Maya's fingers. "London?"

"How did it go with Bryan?"

The air filled with laughter at my question and Maya started telling what went down in New York City.

It was the perfect end to our Senior Spring Break.

* * *

Note from the author : Hey all! Hope you liked the chapter? Leave me a review and tell me what you thought/think, would you? I'm getting started on the next chapter as soon as possible, though I can't tell you when it will be up. I hope soon, though. –RPL

**The No. 13 Rule of a (Suite Life) Lady: The little black dress is classic for a reason.**


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